[UPDATED] BWF World C’ships: Aaron-Wooi Yik make smashing entry into finals

KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik booked a place in the finals at the World Championships today after defeating India’s top pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, 20-22, 21-18, 21-16.

They broke their own record for entering the finals for the first time since their debut in 2018.

The sixth-seeded pair were forced to deal with a tough match against their seventh-seeded opponent, whom they have never lost to in all their five encounters.

However, speaking to the media after the match, Aaron said their mission is far from over as they wish to not get distracted by the glamour.

“The mission is not done yet, we should keep our focus on that. 

“We do not want to be giving ourselves too much pressure on making history or whether we will be the first in Malaysia (to win the World Championships) or not,” Aaron said.

Wooi Yik, meanwhile, stressed that they have been longing to “break the semi-final jinx because we have hardly been able to.

“This was completely different from our previous matches as we were able to focus more on ourselves today and Aaron gave me back my confidence when I did a lot of mistakes.”

Aaron-Wooi Yik are set to clash against tournament third seeds Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in the finals tomorrow.

If they win the match, they will be the first Malaysians ever to win the title.

On the other hand, Aaron-Wooi Yik will only be the country’s fifth men’s doubles pair to bring home a silver medal after Jalani-Razif Sidek (1987), Cheah Soon Kit-Soo Beng Kiang (1993), Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock (1997), and Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong (2010).

Ahsan-Setiawan have not had any luck against Aaron-Wooi Yik in their latest encounters – Malaysia Open and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games – which gave Malaysian fans hope for the latter. – The Vibes, August 27, 2022