KUALA LUMPUR: There were no hiccups this time for Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik as they started with a victory at the Denmark Open in Odense today.
The world No. 4 Malaysian pair, who suffered a first-round exit at the Arctic Open last week, overcame the Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior, 21-16, 21-18 at Jyske Bank Arena. This sets the stage for an eagerly anticipated showdown with Indonesian veterans Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
The three-time world champions showcased their enduring prowess by besting younger compatriots Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan 30-28, 21-15.
Thursday's last-16 duel will mark the 13th time Aaron-Wooi Yik face off against Ahsan-Setiawan, having emerged victorious in only four of those encounters.
Notably, two of those victories were achieved during the Tokyo Olympics bronze playoff in 2021 and the World Championships final last year.
Aaron-Wooi Yik need to defend a sizable number of world ranking points after reaching the semi-finals the previous year.
Also advancing to the second round were world No. 9 pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who didn't even have to play. They received a walkover from India's newly crowned Asian Games champions and world No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty due to an injury to the former.
In mixed doubles, both the independent pairs, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing exited early.
Soon Huat-Shevon, who also suffered a first-round defeat in Finland the previous week, lost 19-21, 22-20, 21-17 to Taiwan's Ye Hong Wei-Lee Chia Hsin.
The loss could lead to a significant drop in their world ranking as they were semi-finalists the previous year.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing continued to struggle in Europe for the second consecutive week, this time succumbing to Dutch pair Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek 21-16, 21-10.