Dominant display: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik defeated new Chinese pair Xie Haonan-Zang Weihan 21-10, 21-18 in 38 minutes.
KUALA LUMPUR: Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik believe they are still on track for success despite a slow start to the 2025 season.
Aaron-Wooi Yik entered the Indian Open not only as the semi-finalists from the previous edition, but also with the intent to silence the critics after their early exit at the Malaysian Open last week.
The 2022 world champions were among the country’s hopefuls, but they fell short of their true potential on home soil last week, leading to dissatisfaction from many quarters.
However, Aaron personally felt that they had regained their mojo after securing a spot in the quarter-finals by defeating the new Chinese pair, Xie Haonan-Zang Weihan, 21-10, 21-18 in 38 minutes.
“I think we are getting better compared to our game yesterday and last week. We’ve been slowly getting back our momentum, but there’s still a lot of room for improvement.
“I think this is our third year playing at the Indian Open, and we have been adapting well and getting better,” said Aaron in a post-match interview with Badminton World Federation (BWF).
However, facing Haonan-Weihan in the second round yesterday was no easy feat, but they managed to control their composure, especially during the crucial points, which had previously been a source of disappointment for them.
“I think it’s about the mental side first. It’s about how calm we are throughout the process, especially since they are a young pair and this was our first time meeting them, so we didn’t know what to expect.
“They gave us a tough fight, but we did well by focusing on our gameplay, and at the crucial points, we managed to stay calm,” said Wooi Yik.
Also improving their performance in this tournament are women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, who reached the quarter-finals in just nine minutes.
This came after their Chinese opponents, Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian, retired at 14-4 due to Shuxian’s injury.
With this win, Pearly-Thinaah get more rest and recovery time, which could work to their advantage as they prepare to face Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto in the quarter-finals today.
