NST Sport
KUALA LUMPUR: Two years ago, the names of Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik wouldn’t ring a bell in the national badminton scene.
Dominating the headlines then were Olympic silver medallists Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (men’s doubles) and Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying (
mixed doubles).
But expect to hear more from
Aaron-Wooi Yik from now. They have become one of BAM’s prized assets after V Shem-Wee Kiong and Peng Soon- Liu Ying left the national body to turn professional.
Both are young and dangerous, with good tactical minds and steely nerves. Aaron is 22 while Wooi Yik is 21.
At last week’s All England in Birmingham, Aaron-Wooi Yik showed no stage fright though they were taking part in the prestigious tournament for the first time,
The unseeded Malaysians defied the form book to reach the men’s doubles final on Sunday.
And in the final, they had filled Malaysian fans with great expectations by winning the first game 21-11 against Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
However, the greater experience of their rivals, a two-time world champions, saw the Indonesians prevailing over the Malaysians by taking the next two games 21-14, 21-12.
Nonetheless, Aaron-Wooi Yik should take comfort from the fact that they were the first Malaysian men's doubles to reach the All-England final after Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in 2011.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who were first paired up in November, 2017, started their All England campaign by beating Taiwan's Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han 12-21, 21-16, 21-16 in the first round.
Their giant-killing act started from the second round as they knocked out Denmark’s World No 6 and fifth seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-19, 21-16.
The 2017 World champions, Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan of China were unfortunate to run into the young guns from Malaysia with the “I don’t care who you are attitude.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik duly sent the Chinese heavyweights with a rousing 21-19, 17-21, 21-12 triumph in the quarter-finals.
And in the semi-final on Saturday, Aaron-Wooi Yik showed maturity to tame Indonesia’s Asian Games silver medallists Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto 12-21, 22-20, 21-19.
The stellar show by Aaron-Wooi Yik even took national men's doubles coach Paulus Firman by surprise.
Paulus, who admitted that he had expected them to reach only the quarter-finals, described their achievements as extraordinary.
BAM coaching director Wong Choong Hann said: “The boys (Aaron-Wooi Yik) have proved that hard work and determination pay off.
“They just need to keep believing in themselves at the toughest moment and persevere.”
Amid their fine show in the All England, World No 18 Aaron-Wooi Yik need to show the consistency that makes players great. It was only last month that they lost to Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin 12-21, 19-21 in the men’s doubles final of the national championships.
However, Aaron-Wooi Yik should be a smashing success story for BAM. Making their debut in the World Championships in Nanjing in July last year, they reached the quarter-finals. And now in their maiden All-England, they reached the final.
That is great progress for the duo at such a young age.