PETALING JAYA: One is fresh from winning a silver medal at the World Championships. The other is all fired up after smashing his way to another Malaysia Games (Sukma) gold.
Now, Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Tai will team up for the first time at the China Masters in Shenzhen starting on Tuesday (Sept 1), hoping to show that Malaysia can count on another scratch pair to make their mark on the international stage.
Former international Tan Boon Heong hopes Wooi Yik can use his experience to guide Tai to a strong showing in China.
"It will benefit both of them. It’s good for Wooi Yik to partner a junior as it’s part of the process of becoming a better player and also guiding a younger one," said Boon Heong.
Both Wooi Yik and Tai partnered Aaron Chia before their China stint.
Wooi Yik played alongside the senior Aaron last week in New Delhi and came close to winning their second world title together before going down to China’s Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang in the final.
The Malaysians had already made history in 2022 by becoming the country’s first badminton world champions.
The junior Aaron also impressed at the Sukma in Selangor, where he teamed up with Nuraqilah Maisarah Ramdan to defend the mixed doubles title for Melaka.
The 21-year-old Tai, who reached the final of the Taiwan Open earlier this month with Chia, has many good years ahead of him.
Added Boon Heong: "Tai can learn a lot from these tournaments. He partnered Aaron (Chia) and now Wooi Yik, who are both world champions and recently won the silver.
"He is still young and has shown good fighting spirit. The way he plays is also very smart.
"He, however, still has a lot of things to adapt to and learn from the seniors. Hopefully, by playing with Wooi Yik now, he will catch up fast," said Boon Heong.
The unseeded Wooi Yik-Tai will face Japan’s Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita in the first round. If they win, they could face former world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan in the last 16.
The top two seeded pairs are South Korea’s Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae and Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri.
Chia will also be in action at the China Masters, where he will partner Man Wei Chong.
The other Malaysian pairs in the fray are Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Tee Kai Wun-Yap Roy King, Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong and Wan Junaidi Wan Arif-Kang Khai Xing.
Malaysia’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi is still experimenting with scratch combinations in the hope of finding a few strong pairs capable of challenging for medals at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
