KUALA LUMPUR: The war is still on, and reigning men's doubles world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have a score to settle in the second round of the Malaysia Masters tomorrow.
After crashing out in the semi-finals of the Sudirman Cup last week following a 3-1 defeat to South Korea, the world No. 2 will have a chance to avenge their loss when they play world No. 10 Choi Sol Gyu-Kim Won Ho at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
At the world mixed team championships in Suzhou, Won Ho and his scratch partner, Na Sung Seung, delivered Malaysia the finishing blow when they downed Aaron-Wooi Yik 21-12, 21-11.
"I must learn from our previous match (in the Sudirman Cup) because it was Won Ho and his partner who beat us. It was my first time then, and I couldn't cope with the match.
"I hope Aaron and I will recover in time and be fresh when we play in the second round," said Wooi Yik, who together with Aaron laboured hard before carving out a 21-18, 10-21, 23-21 win over Sea Games champions Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan of Indonesia in the first round on Tuesday.
Wooi Yik also admitted that he and Aaron must reduce throwing away easy points when they feel cornered and out of sorts.
"This is our biggest problem. You could see it in the second game against Pramudya-Yeremia. When we feel uncomfortable with our opponents' style and strategy, we throw away easy points.
"We must reduce that, no matter how uncomfortable it is. We must stick close," added Wooi Yik.
Meanwhile, the other Malaysian men's doubles taking to court tomorrow are world No. 8 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who will play Taiwan's Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han, and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, who will face Scotland's Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall.