PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have received a timely boost in their bid to qualify for the World Tour Finals after being cleared to compete in next week's Japan Masters.
There had been doubts over their participation in Kumamoto after Wooi Yik suffered a right heel injury during the French Open in Paris last month.
However, national men's doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said Wooi Yik had made encouraging progress following treatment and rehabilitation since returning from Europe.
Although the 28-year-old has yet to fully recover, Herry said the injury was not serious enough to keep him out of competition.
"Since returning from Europe, he has been undergoing rehabilitation and has also consulted doctors.
"The injury was not too serious. There was some swelling in his foot, but he is much better now and has already resumed training.
"However, he is still not 100% fit and has not fully recovered," said Herry.
Aaron-Wooi Yik skipped last week's Hylo Open in Germany and withdrew from this week's Korean Open to give Wooi Yik more time to recover.
They are now set to return as the third seeds at the Japan Masters, where they will face India's Hariharan Amsakarunan-M.R. Arjun in the opening round.
Their return comes at a crucial time, with only the Japan Masters and the following week's Hong Kong Open remaining for players to collect points towards qualification for next month's season-ending World Tour Finals in Hangzhou.
Aaron-Wooi Yik cannot afford to lose further ground to their closest rivals, but Herry is not prepared to push the pair beyond their physical limits just to secure qualification, insisting that Wooi Yik's recovery remains the priority.
"Every player wants to qualify for the World Tour Finals because only the top eight pairs get to compete there.
"It also offers the biggest prize money at the end of the year, based on the results players have achieved throughout the season.
"Of course, every player wants to be there, but we have to assess their condition first.
"If they are physically ready, then they can go for it. Otherwise, we will have to reconsider," he added.
According to the latest World Tour Finals rankings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) on Tuesday (Nov 4), Aaron-Wooi Yik have slipped one spot to sixth with 65,740 points.
Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard are breathing down their necks in seventh with 65,610 points, followed by Indonesia's Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza on 65,550.
China's Chen Boyang-Liu Yi are also firmly in contention in ninth place with 64,200 points.
Only the top eight pairs in the World Tour Finals rankings will qualify for the season-ending tournament.
