Aaron-Wooi Yik puzzled over their shock first round loss in Denmark


National men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik reacts after losing a point while against compatriots Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the final match of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Sunday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star

PETALING JAYA: Nothing seemed to go right for Malaysia’s top men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, as they suffered a shock exit in the first round of the Denmark Open yesterday.

On paper, Aaron-Wooi Yik held the upper hand, having faced Indonesia’s Rian Ardianto several times before when he was paired with Fajar Alfian, and boasting a solid head-to-head record.

However, Rian, now partnering Rahmat Hidayat, managed to neutralise Aaron-Wooi Yik’s usual aggression on court, leaving the Malaysians without answers as they fell 17-21, 13-21 in just 33 minutes at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense.

When asked whether fatigue from last week’s Arctic Open had affected their performance, Wooi Yik was unsure if that was the main reason for their defeat.

“I don’t know. We just wanted to give our best, but today we didn’t play well,” said Wooi Yik in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).

It was a disappointing outcome for Aaron-Wooi Yik, who were eager to bounce back after finishing runners-up at the Arctic Open last week.

They had reached the final in Finland but were unable to reproduce their best form against England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy, settling for second place.

Aaron admitted they made too many mistakes against the Indonesian pair, which allowed their opponents to dominate the match.

However, as former world champions, Aaron-Wooi Yik are not letting the setback affect their confidence and have vowed to refocus ahead of next week’s French Open.

“I think we made a lot of unforced errors today and our gameplay just didn’t work. That’s what caused our loss. We’ll go back, regroup and prepare well for next week,” said Aaron.

Women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah showed no signs of fatigue as they beat Indonesia’s Rachel Rose-Febi Setia­ningrum 21-13, 21-17 in the first round.

They will face Japan’s newly formed duo Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida in their bid for a quarter-final berth today.

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