PETALING JAYA: National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky has dismissed claims that national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik’s shock first-round exit at the Indonesian Masters on Tuesday (Jan 20) was due to exhaustion.
“It was not fatigue; they simply made too many mistakes,” he said.
Top seeds Aaron and Wooi Yik suffered their first-ever defeat to Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard at the tournament, going down 22-20, 19-21, 16-21 in a 63-minute match at Istora Senayan.
Speculation quickly surfaced that the surprise loss could be linked to the demanding schedule faced by the world champions, as they had reached the final of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur two weeks ago and the semi-finals of the Indian Open in New Delhi last week.
Prior to the start of the new BWF World Tour season, the pair had also competed at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, just days after helping Malaysia at the SEA Games in Thailand.
However, Rexy, who was present at the Istora Senayan, stressed that the national pair were fully prepared and rejected fatigue as the reason for their defeat.
“Aaron and Wooi Yik’s defence was not working. In the second and third games, they made too many mistakes, including several long lifts that went out of court.
“There was no issue of tiredness. It was just not their day, especially defensively,” he said when contacted.
However, the setback could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Aaron and Wooi Yik, as it gives them the opportunity to take a proper break and fine-tune their preparations ahead of the European tour.
The tour kicks off with the German Open from Feb 24 to March 1, followed by the prestigious All-England from March 3-8.
