[UPDATED] Malaysia Open: Nation’s last hope Aaron-Wooi Yik lose in semis

KUALA LUMPUR – It will be a Malaysia Open finals without Malaysian shuttlers as the nation’s last hope Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik tumbled out of the tournament in the semi-finals after losing against world number two Japanese duo Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 23-21, 21-9.

It was a thrilling first set as both pairs went back-and-forth to take the lead going into the second set. But it was Hoki-Kobayashi that edged their opponents out.  

Aaron-Wooi Yik were no match for the Japanese duo as they trailed far behind them the entire set with no hope to catch up.

Clearly disappointed, Aaron said they made too many mistakes today, letting their opponents take advantage. 

“They got easy points from us because we kept making mistakes. 

“We need to discuss with our coaches and analyse what keeps going wrong when we reach the semi-finals of competitions,” he said. 

When asked if the pressure got to them, Wooi Yik said pressure should not be used as an excuse. 

“If you can’t take the pressure then you can’t be world number one. Everyone has pressure but it matters how you handle it.”

National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said even though he is happy with their performance reaching the semi-finals, there is a problem that needs to be solved. 

“We have to figure out why it is that when they reach the final stages of a tournament, they can’t win.

“I think our players get distracted too easily, they panic. They think too much towards the end of a tournament and lose focus,” he said. 

Rexy added that the doubles pairings need to be clever when playing tough opponents. 

“Don’t keep doing the same thing, they kept feeding the opponents shuttles which left them vulnerable. 

“They need to change their mindset, and this is something we need to work on.”

Earlier, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin crashed out in the semi-finals after losing to Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto 21-14, 21-12. 

The national pair were trailing in the first set, making many unforced errors that gave the world number seven Indonesian pair the lead going into the second set. 

Their efforts to catch up were unsuccessful as Alfian-Ardianto were too strong for the young Malaysian pair. 

“We were not mentally prepared today. They play at a higher level than us but that is not the reason we lost. 

“It just was not our day today, we were not playing our best game,” they told reporters after the loss. 

The pair admitted that they focused on their opponents more than their own gameplay. 

“We have to work on ourselves now. Today we focused on their advantages instead of our own and that was not good. 

“Even though we achieved our target of being in the semi-finals, personally we want to do better,” they added.

The Indonesians will play against world number two Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi tomorrow in the finals. – The Vibes, July 2, 2022