KUALA LUMPUR: Tactically, the difference was marginal, but a split second change in focus proved crucial for men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who crashed out in the quarter-finals of the Super 1000 Petronas Malaysia Open on Friday.
As the last Malaysians standing in the competition following the defeat of Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi earlier, World No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik kept fans at the edge of their seats at the Axiata Arena, but failed to hold advantage as they succumbed 16-21, 21-18, 21-13 to reigning world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea.
The defeat is only Aaron-Wooi Yik's second to the South Korean pair in four meetings.
Clearly disappointed for not being able to reach their second Malaysia Open semi-final since the 2022 edition, Aaron said: "Today we started well, but in the second we let our excitement get the better of us because we wanted to win and that affected our focus."
Wooi Yik echoed his partner's feelings, pointing out the key changing moment, when they lost a two point lead in the third and deciding game. This allowed the Koreans to pull away, making it harder for Aaron-Wooi Yik to claw back.
"It was point for point in the first two games, but that two points in the third game was the turning point.
"When they took the lead in the interval, they got confident, and we started feeling the pressure, and also didn't control the drift well," lamented Wooi Yik.
Losing at home is always a tough pill to swallow, but Aaron-Wooi Yik are bent on making amends, with the end goal being at the Paris Olympics in July.
"Playing at home, there will always be expectations, not just from the fans or coaches but our own as well.
"We must keep going, maintain our game play, and be consistent even with our confidence.
"It's too early to rate ourselves because it's the first tournament of the year, but our end goal remains the same and that is to peak at the Olympics," added Aaron.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will head to New Delhi next for the Super 750 India Open, where they will face Japan's Akira Koga-Taichi Saito in the opening round.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles: Lin Chun Yi (Tai) bt Li Shi Feng (Chn) 21-12, 21-18; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 16-21, 21-12, 21-7; Viktor Axelsen (Den) bt Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) 16-21, 21-18, 21-9; Shi Yu Qi (Chn) bt Lu Guang Zu (Chn) 8-21, 21-11, 21-10.
Men's doubles: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (Ind) bt He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu (Chn) 21-11, 21-8; Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-15, 21-9; Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) 16-21, 21-17, 21-18; Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae (Kor) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik 16-21, 21-18, 21-13.
Women's singles: Chen Yu Fei (Chn) bt Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Ina) 21-13, 21-17; Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) bt He Bing Jiao (Chn) 21-16, 21-15; An Se Young (Kor) bt Yeo Jia Min (Sin) 16-21, 21-12, 21-19; Zhang Yi Man (Chn) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 12-21, 21-17, 21-17.
Women's doubles: Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Tanisha Crasto-Ashwini Ponnappa (Ind) 21-15, 21-13; Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu (Chn) bt Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) 21-17, 21-15; Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (Kor) bt Li Wen Mei-Liu Xuan Xuan (Chn) 21-13, 21-14; Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yifan (Chn) 21-12, 17-21, 21-10.
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chn) bt Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung (Kor) 21-19, 21-14; Terry Hee-Jessica Tan (Sin) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-16, 21-19; Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun (Kor) bt Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (Chn) 21-11, 18-21, 21-17; Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) bt Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) 21-14, 21-8.