New plans for 2026: Malaysian men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik want to reduce tournaments next year. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Less is more for national men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.
Starting next year, Aaron-Wooi Yik are planning to reduce the number of tournaments as they bid to hit peak form in the biggest events.
This year, the former world champions started well but a hectic season saw them running out of steam towards the end – indicating that they were not fit enough to sustain their pace.
“We will be cutting down a bit,” said Aaron after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.
“We will discuss with our coaches and make some adjustments to our tournaments next year.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik competed in 22 tournaments this year including the SEA Games and Sudirman Cup.
The duo were in fine form in the first half of the year but struggled for consistency in the second half.
It is compulsory for players ranked in the world’s top 10 to compete in at least 12 World Tour tournaments a year as per Badminton World Federation rules.
With the Asian Games, World Championships and Thomas Cup Finals also being held next year, Aaron-Wooi Yik will have at least 15 tournaments.
If the world No. 2 pair qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals, the number rises to 16.
Aaron believes making slight adjustments to their tournament calendar will be beneficial for him and Wooi Yik as they seek to remain sharp in the major competitions.
Aaron turns 29 next year while Wooi Yik will be 28.
“Perhaps we will play around 18 to 20 tournaments. We are going to try to make it below 20.
“We are not old yet but we are the most senior members in BAM (Badminton Association of Malaysia), so we need to maintain our fitness levels.
“We have a good strength and conditioning team, so this is not a big problem for us.
On the pair’s main targets next year, Aaron said: “We are aiming to do well in the Asian Games, world meet, Thomas Cup and Super 1000 tournaments.
“We also want to maintain our ranking in the world’s top five. Although we believe that ranking is just a number, it does help with the tournament draws sometimes.”
The world No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik are currently preparing for the season curtain-raiser - the Malaysian Open from Jan 6-11 at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil.
