Awesome: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in action against Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Reigning Thailand Open winners Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik overcame fatigue to reach the second round as the men’s doubles department enjoyed a good day in the Malaysian Masters.
Despite admitting they were feeling the effects of a packed schedule, the duo put on a solid performance to defeat Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang-chieh and Wang Chi-lin 21-19, 21-15 in yesterday’s first round match at the Axiata Arena.
“We’re doing okay considering we just came off a tournament last week. Although we didn’t have much rest, it’s not a major issue for us,” said Aaron.
“Our focus now is on strategy, and thankfully everything is falling into place.”
However, they anticipate a tougher challenge in today’s second round against another Taiwanese pair, Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han.
Aaron-Wooi Yik acknowledged the difficulty of preparing for opponents they have never faced before, with no prior data or experience to draw on.
This situation is reminiscent of their close shave in the first round of the Thailand Open, where they narrowly escaped an upset against French duo Julien Maio-William Villeger.
“We have to be realistic, it won’t be easy. Like in Thailand, we had never played the French pair before, so preparation is key,” said Wooi Yik.
“All the men’s doubles pairs are very strong right now. The most important thing is to trust our coach and learn from him. We still have a long journey ahead, so we’re taking it step by step.”
Also advancing to the second round are Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing, Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong.
The world junior champions Aaron-Khai Xing will face Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard while Japan pairs – world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi and Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita stand in the way of Hon Jian-Haikal and Wei Chong-Kai Wun respectively.
Second seeds Sze Fei-Izzuddin will take on Taiwan’s Chen Zhi-ray-Lin Yu-chieh and Hang Yee-Eng Cheong have a daunting challenge against top seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen next.
