KUALA LUMPUR – Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik’s Commonwealth Games experience this year played a crucial role in their journey to becoming world champions in Tokyo on Sunday.
Badminton Association of Malaysia doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said the quadrennial games are not to be taken lightly even though not all the badminton powerhouse nations are present.
“It is not considered as a major badminton competition because the strong countries are England, Singapore and India.
“But there is still immense pressure. You can see our players go through it. Even Aaron-Wooi Yik were under stress and failed in the semi-finals,” he told the media in a virtual press conference yesterday.
The world No. 6 pair were stunned by England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy 21-18, 17-21, 4-21 in the semi-final in Birmingham.
Rexy added that the loss gave motivation to the shuttlers to pull up their socks and turn their luck around at the BWF World Championships in Tokyo, which started two weeks after the Commonwealth Games.
“They reflected on their mistakes in Birmingham and worked on stepping their game up. It was the best motivation they could have had.
“If it were a Super 300 tournament, it would not be the same because the pressure is not as high as bigger competitions.
“But participating in high-level tournaments before the World Championships was definitely a boost to their (Aaron-Wooi Yik’s) confidence,” said the 1995 men’s doubles world champion.
The struggles did eventually pay off as Aaron-Wooi Yik displayed a stellar performance at the World Championships.
After failing to progress past the semi-finals at the past six tournaments, the pair cruised to the final four of the World Championships, winning all previous matches in straight sets.
Aaron-Wooi Yik then showed their improvement as the pair came from a set down against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty to book their spot in the final. The score was 20-22, 21-18, 21-16.
Facing third-ranked Indonesian veterans Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan in the final, Aaron-Wooi Yik made quick work of the three-time world champions to take a 40-minute straight sets win.
Although the Commonwealth Games bronze medallists had won their past two meetings with the Indonesians, it was different this time as both previous encounters went to three sets.
The shuttlers’ boost in confidence combined with Rexy’s strategy to opt for longer rallies and not to rush when receiving returns proved to be the formula to give Malaysia its first world title.
The newly crowned world champions have decided to sit out the ongoing Japan Open, with Rexy saying that Aaron had a minor shoulder injury and did not want to aggravate it further.
Meanwhile, the national duo are set to receive a whopping RM400,000 incentive for winning gold at the World Championships. – The Vibes, August 30, 2022
