PETALING JAYA: The China Masters may have marked Aaron Tai-Soh Wooi Yik’s first and last outing together, but the experience proved invaluable for Tai despite their quarter-final exit.
Tai was among those who impressed after men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi reshuffled the national squad and experimented with several scratch combinations.
The youngster produced a series of lively displays alongside Wooi Yik throughout the week at the Shenzhen Arena and came close to pulling off another upset against China’s former world No. 4 pair He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu in the quarter-finals before going down 16-21, 21-17, 16-21.
Earlier, Tai-Wooi Yik had stunned world No. 10 Chen Boyang-Liu Yi in the second round. Tai said he had enjoyed the experience of playing with different partners over the past two months and had learned plenty along the way.
“I personally really enjoyed playing with my senior and I want to thank him (Wooi Yik) for taking care of me on court,” said Tai in a post-match interview with BWF.
Wooi Yik, meanwhile, praised Tai for showing no fear against top-level opponents despite this being their first tournament together.
“We fought until the end and Aaron Tai played quite well. We were up against a top pair, so we needed to cut down on our errors and I also made some mistakes.
“But overall, we gave them a very tough fight,” said Wooi Yik.
Tai had also gained experience alongside another senior player, Aaron Chia, with the pair finishing runners-up at the Taiwan Open.
The reshuffling will continue at the Arctic Open from Oct 6-11, where Chia will partner Tee Kai Wun, Wooi Yik will team up with Choong Hon Jian, while Tai will play alongside Yap Roy King.
After that, Wooi Yik is set to reunite with Chia from the Denmark Open onwards.
