PETALING JAYA: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will be out to defend their Asian Championships crown as they look to turn recent near misses into a victory this year.
The world No. 2 pair head into the meet from April 7-12 in Ningbo, China, after finishing runners-up at both the Malaysian Open and All-England.
Besides Aaron-Wooi Yik, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) will also field Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, along with independent pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky has high hopes for his charges.
“All our pairs are going. Aaron-Wooi Yik are the defending champions, so of course we want them to retain the title,” said Rexy.
“I hope the others will also give their best.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik came close to winning their first title of the year but were twice denied by world No. 1 Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea in the Malaysian Open and All-England finals.
Meanwhile, Rexy said centralised training with the independent players ahead of next month’s Thomas Cup Finals in Denmark would only begin at a later stage.
“The independent players will not be joining us immediately after the European tournaments as they prefer to train on their own first,” he said. “The selected players will then join the centralised training in Herning, Denmark, before the Finals.”
