PETALING JAYA: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik’s hopes of winning a second world title ended in disappointment after they lost to China’s world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in the World Championships final in New Delhi yesterday.
The Malaysian pair, who won the title in Tokyo in 2022, were unable to get the better of Weikeng-Wang Chang and went down 17-21, 16-21 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The victory gave Weikeng-Wang Chang their first world title.
The Chinese pair have dominated their rivalry, winning 11 of their previous 14 meetings.
Weikeng-Wang Chang have also beaten Aaron-Wooi Yik twice this year, first at the Thomas Cup Finals in Horsens in April before getting the better of them again in the Singapore Open quarter-finals in June.
Aaron-Wooi Yik however can still walk tall for emerging as Malaysia’s best performers in the tournament.
“Honestly, after so many things happened, for us to get through to the final again is a good boost,” said Wooi Yik.
They had booked their place in the final after stunning defending champions and world No. 1 pair Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae 21-17, 21-18 in the semi-finals at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday.
The victory also made amends for their defeats to the South Koreans in two finals this year, at the Malaysian Open in January and All-England in March.
Having fallen short against Won-ho-Seung-jae on both occasions, Aaron said they knew they needed to change their approach this time, and it paid off.
“We had to play differently from the usual way. We’ve played them many times and we needed something different to take down the Korean pair,” Aaron said in a post-match interview with BWF.
