PETALING JAYA: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik sent an early warning in Mulheim – they are not in Germany for a holiday.
The top seeds battled past Denmark’s William Kryger Boe-Andreas Sondergaard 21-16, 25-23 in a tense 40-minute opener at the Westenergie Sporthalle on Tuesday, underlining their intent ahead of next week’s All-England.
While the Super 300 German Open serves as a tune-up for Birmingham, the world No. 2 pair are treating every match with purpose.
“Our coach wants this to be part of our preparation, but it’s still a competition,” said Wooi Yik.
“We will give our best here as we build towards the All-England. That tournament is very special to us.”
Twice runners-up in Birmingham – to Indonesia’s Hendra Setiawan-Mohamad Ahsan in 2019 and Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in 2024 – Aaron-Wooi Yik are determined to sharpen every edge before another crack at the crown.
Last year’s first-round exit to Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard still lingers, adding further motivation.
Fresh from Chinese New Year celebrations, Wooi Yik admitted it was tough leaving family behind.
“We only had a couple of days together, but we know they are supporting us from home. That pushes us to keep giving our best,” he said.
Aaron, who turned 29 on Tuesday, also acknowledged the quality of their Danish opponents.
“They’re improving and could be rising stars in the coming years. We welcome these tough matches,” he said.
Next up, Aaron-Wooi Yik will face either Taiwan’s Chen Cheng-kuan-Ling Bing-wei or France’s Julien Maio-William Villeger.
Elsewhere, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King also advanced, while Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri fell to China’s second seeds Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Malaysians only
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt William Kryger Boe-Andreas Sondergaard (Den) 21-16, 25-23; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin (Mas) bt Mael Cattoen-Lucas Renoir (Fra) 21-17, 21-19; Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King (Mas) bt Oliver Butler-Samuel Jones (Eng) 21-14, 21-12; Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri (Mas) 21-14, 18-21, 21-18.
