PETALING JAYA: Malaysia are guaranteed at least one place in the men’s doubles quarter-finals of the World Championships today, but it will come at the expense of either Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik or Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun.
The two pairs will face each other in the third round in New Delhi, with the winners moving one step closer to securing a medal.
The match will also be an interesting one as it could be the last time both pairs play together this year before going their separate ways again after the tournament.
Wei Chong has spent more than a month partnering Wooi Yik in several tournaments, while Aaron is set to team up with Kai Wun beginning at the China Masters.
For Wei Chong, the situation is still a positive one for Malaysia as the country are assured of having one pair in the last eight.
"I think we both played a few times before and it's good news for Malaysia because at least one pair will enter the quarter-finals. So we just want to prepare for our match.
"We don't think about the result, we just want to perform ourselves," Wei Chong told the BWF.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun have won three of their eight meetings against Aaron-Wooi Yik.
One of those victories came in the Malaysian Masters final in May last year, when they beat their senior teammates to lift the title.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, however, have won their last three meetings at the Singapore Open, China Open and most recently the All-England in March.
Wei Chong, however, is not reading too much into their previous results and prefers to focus on preparing well for the match.
"I think we do not think too much because we don't know about the draw, right? It's kind of random. So we just want to prepare ourselves and play our best," he added. Also chasing a quarter-final spot are former world No. 1 pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who face Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will be out for revenge after losing to the Taiwanese pair in the German Open quarter-finals in March.
