He will recover: Aaron-Soh Wooi Yik will compete in the Asian Badminton Championships despite Aaron’s struggle with a right hand injury.
KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s doubles ace Aaron Chia will not require surgery but will undergo intensive rehabilitation to regain full fitness ahead of the Asian Badminton Championships in Ningbo, China, from April 8-13.
Men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi confirmed that 2022 world champions Aaron-Soh Wooi Yik will compete in the tournament despite Aaron’s struggle with a right hand injury.
Indonesian Herry said Aaron has shown positive signs in training over the past few days since returning from the All-England.
“He is not fully recovered yet, but his condition is being closely monitored.
‘‘However, he is in better shape now compared to the All-England, possibly because he has had more time to rest.
“He will be able to compete in the Asian Championships. He has already resumed training for a week since returning from Birmingham,” said Herry when met at the Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara.
Aaron’s condition was a cause for concern even before he departed for the European tournaments. His hand injury clearly took a toll on his performance, as he and partner, Wooi Yik suffered a shock first-round exit to China’s Sun Wenjun-Zhu Yijun.
A similar outcome followed at the All-England, where Aaron-Wooi Yik were eliminated in the first round by Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard.
To address these issues, Herry has been assessing their performance and working to help them improve ahead of the competition in Ningbo.
“It should have been an opportunity for them to improve from those two tournaments. We will have further discussions before departing.
‘‘We’ve reviewed match videos for evaluation purposes,” he added.
In last year’s edition, Aaron-Wooi Yik settled for bronze after losing in the semi-finals to compatriots Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
For this year’s tournament, Aaron-Wooi Yik have been seeded sixth, while Sze Fei-Izzuddin are the top seeds.
Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are seeded eighth, while Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King will make their debut.
