PETALING JAYA: It should have been all celebrations for Malaysia at the French Open on Friday with both Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani checking into the penultimate stage of the French Open men’s doubles event.
World No. 5 Sze Fei-Izzuddin stunned world No. 1 Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea 21-15, 21-18 to book their place in the semi-finals.
However, there was an undertone of worry in the other quarter-final match of the evening as former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik conceded a walkover to world No. 11 Wei Chong-Kai Wun after just two minutes on court.
The world No. 4 pair were trailing 0-5 before their sudden retirement at the Arena Grand Paris.
Men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi confirmed that Wooi Yik sustained an injury during their opening-round match against the Chinese pair of He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu.
“Wooi Yik injured his right leg in the first round,” said Herry.
“They had to withdraw to avoid aggravating it.”
This marked only the second tournament for Aaron-Wooi Yik since reuniting, following their impressive runner-up finish at the Denmark Open last week.
The withdrawal also puts their BWF World Tour Finals qualification at risk. Currently in seventh place, Aaron-Wooi Yik hold one of the eight coveted spots for the tournament in Hangzhou from Dec 9-13.
However, with the pair skipping the upcoming Hylo Open in Germany, their position remains vulnerable.
This would have been the duo’s opportunity to finally add the elusive title to their trophy list, having never made it out of the group stage in 2019, 2020, 2023 and 2025.
While Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who were silver medallists at the Finals two years ago, have already qualified, the veteran duo of Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong, currently in 14th place, remain the closest active local pair in contention.
Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing sit above them in 13th spot but the duo have been split and paired with other players.
No Malaysian men’s pair has won the season-ending Finals since the tournament’s inception in 2018.
RESULTS
Semi-finals
Women’s singles: An Se-young (Kor) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-12, 21-19, P.V. Sindhu (Ind) bt Hina Akechi (Jpn) 21-10, 20-22, 21-16.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) 21-17, 22-20.
Mixed doubles: Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) bt Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) 21-13, 21-9, Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) 19-21, 21-17, 21-19.
Quarter-finals
Men’s singles: Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 16-21, 21-16, 21-16; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-15, 21-16; Hu Zhean (Chn) bt Alwi Farhan (Ina) 21-19, 21-12.
Women’s singles: Hina Akechi (Jpn) bt Putri Wardani (Ina) 21-17, 21-18.
Men’s doubles: Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin (Ina) bt Hu Keyuan-Lin Xiangyi (Chn) 23-21, 21-18; Leo Carnando-Daniel Marthin (Ina) bt Kang Ming-hyuk-Lee Jongmin (Kor) 21-14, 21-19; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) bt Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) 21-15, 21-18; Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (Mas) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 5-0 w.o.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah (Mas) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 21-12, 21-15; Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto (Jpn) bt Amallia Pratiwi-Siti Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-17, 21-18; Rachel Rose-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) bt Hinata Suzuki-Nao Yamakita (Jpn) 19-21, 21-16, 21-16; Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Rinna Hiramoto-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 21-18, 16-21, 21-15.
Mixed doubles: Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue (Fra) bt Wu Guanxun-Lee Chiahsin (Tpe) 23-21, 21-12, 21-14; Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Amri Syahnawi-Nita Marwah (Ina) 13-21, 21-13, 21-13.
