KUALA LUMPUR – It was joy for national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik after defeating South Korea’s Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho 21-19, 21-14 to progress into tomorrow’s Malaysia Masters quarter-finals.
Their second-round match at the Axiata Arena today saw the Malaysians take a close first set against the 10th-seeded South Koreans.
But the second set was an all-Malaysian show as world number two Aaron-Wooi Yik led all the way, at one stage taking a 12-point lead, and eventually winning the match in 38 minutes.
“The first set could have gone either way, it was anyone’s game to get the advantage heading into the second set.
“But in the second set, we were comfortable with our gameplay and managed to win. Now we just hope to maintain our momentum moving forward,” said the Malaysian pair after the win.
The reigning world champions added another notch to their belt against the South Koreans after winning their previous and only meeting at the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships.
Next, Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on either China’s He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong or Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin of Indonesia.
Meanwhile, in the next court, Malaysia’s other men’s doubles pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also progressed into the final eight after beating Scottish pair Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall 21-23, 21-14, 21-16.
They will play either Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-suan or Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan for a chance to enter the semi-finals. – The Vibes, May 25, 2023
