KUALA LUMPUR: Despite being struck in the eye, men's doubles player Aaron Chia will not use it as an excuse for coming up short in the semi-finals of the India Open on Saturday.
Aaron-Soh Wooi Yik suffered another heartbreak after going down 21-18, 21-14 to world No. 2 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
After narrowly losing the first game, Aaron-Wooi Yik had a better start in the second.
However, an accidental smash to the eye from Chirag proved to be the turning point of the match, ultimately leading to the Malaysians crashing out of the competition.
Rather than resorting to excuses, Aaron graciously accepted defeat.
"While the hit may have affected me a little, it's not the main reason we lost,," Aaron told the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
"We started well, especially in the first game, but in the second, we failed to control the other side of the court, that was our disadvantage," he added.
While world No. 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik rued their chances of reaching their first final this season, Chirag told China media CGTN he felt bad for hitting Aaron in the eye.
"I felt bad for Aaron.
"A few days ago, coach Mathias Boe had hit me in the eye; I couldn't see for 10 minutes. I know how bad it is.
"Luckily, I think he was okay in a couple of minutes, but that probably changed the rhythm in our way," Chirag said.
It will be back to the drawing board for former world champions Aaron-Wooi Yik as they are not competing in the Indonesia Open.
The 2023 Denmark Open champions will likely drop a spot in the world rankings after failing to defend their points from reaching the India Open final last year.
Chances are Aaron-Wooi Yik's next big appearance will be at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) in Selangor on Feb 13-19.