SINGAPORE – Malaysia’s five-year title drought at the Singapore Badminton Open (SBO) continues after reigning men’s doubles world champion, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were eliminated in the semi-finals today.
Aaron-Wooi Yik lost to Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China 21-16, 15-21, 17-21 to extend their poor record against the opponents to 4-1.
This is the fifth meeting in 12 months between Aaron-Wooi Yik and the Chinese pair, the first being the Indonesia Masters on June 10 last year and the national pair recorded their only victory in the Indonesia Masters in January this year.
“We are disappointed over not keeping cool during the crucial points.
“So, we need to be more focused.
“Today is not an easy match, so we need to recondition ourselves fast before playing in our next tournament (Indonesia Open) next week,” Wooi Yik said at the end of the game.
Earlier, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei gave a remarkable performance before bowing out to world number three of Japan, Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino 17-21, 22-24 in the mixed doubles.
Malaysia last won the men’s doubles in Singapore Open in 2008 via Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari.
For the record, Malaysia’s last title in this tournament was in 2018 when Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai won the mixed doubles and since then Malaysians failed to lift any title (no tournament in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic).
Aaron-Wooi Yik are still looking for a title in the world tour as they are among the rare breed of players who won the world title without winning an open tournament.
The other player is Penang-born Singaporean, Loh Kean Yew, who became world singles champion in 2021.
It was also Aaron-Wooi Yik’s first semi-final appearance in a world tour tournament since finishing as the runners-up in the Indian Open in January.
Since then, they have suffered early round exits in four tournaments (German Open, All-England, Swiss Open and Asian Championships).
The furthest they got were the quarterfinals in the Masters in Indonesia and last month’s edition in Malaysia. – Bernama, June 10, 2023
