PETALING JAYA: It will take a herculean effort for shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to put the SEA Games disappointment behind them and rise to the challenge at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou starting today.
Men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi admitted that the world No. 2 pair need to transform their game quickly if they are to stand a chance in the season-ending Finals, following their lacklustre showing in the SEA Games final on Sunday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik lost the title match to Indonesia’s Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza, and they face another tough test against an Indonesian pair in their opening Group B match.
The Paris Olympic bronze medallists will take on the in-form Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri, a pair they have never beaten in two previous meetings.
With the duo drawn into what has been labelled the ‘’group of death’’, the Malaysians know they must find a way past the Indonesians to boost their chances of advancing beyond the group stage.
Said Herry: “Aaron-Wooi Yik could not bring out their best game in the SEA Games.
“Sabar-Reza were also more confident and we have to give them credit for performing well.
“In the Finals, Aaron-Wooi Yik are undoubtedly in a tough group. All the pairs in the group are strong. Every match will be difficult.
“It comes down to which pairs are better prepared and physically fresher.”
The others in the group are China’s Paris Olympics silver medallists Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang and India’s 2022 Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
Only the top two pairs in the group will progress to the semi-finals.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on Weikeng-Wang Chang in their second match tomorrow before wrapping up the group stage against Satwiksairaj-Chirag.
They have only won three out of their 11 matches against the Chinese duo but did beat them in their last meeting in the Asian Championships semi-finals in April.
Aaron-Wooi Yik do hold an 11-5 advantage over the Indians but lost to them in their last two clashes in the World Championships quarter-finals and China Masters last four.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will be attempting to reach the last four for the first time.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, who have qualified for the first time for the tournament, also face a difficult opening match against Sabar-Moh in Group A.
World No. 5 Wei Chong-Kai Wun have only beaten the Indonesians once in five meetings and came out second best to the latter in their last match in the SEA Games semi-finals.
The other combos in the group are reigning world champions Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho and Taiwan’s Hylo Open winners Wang Chi-lin-Chiu Hsiang-chieh.
