Aaron-Wooi Yik’s challenge ends as South Korea celebrate three finals in worlds

PETALING JAYA: The challenge of doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik is over at the World Championships.

The world No. 4’s quest to defend their world title was dashed when they went down 21-23, 13-21 to South Korea’s world No. 6 Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae in the semi-finals at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen on Saturday (Aug 26).

Aaron Wooi Yik got off to an explosive start when they raced to 19-15 and held two game points at 20-19 and 21-20 but could not make the most of their opportunities.

The Malaysians tried to recover from the first game defeat but failed.

Min-hyuk-Seung-jae, buoyed by the narrow first game win, continued their fine form to take a 11-7 lead in the second and did not look back after that as the Malaysian Masters and Australian Open champions went on to book their spots in the final in their maiden world meet together as a pair.

A dejected Aaron said: “The Korean pair performed well especially after the first game.”

“The opening game win really boosted their confidence.

“We were leading by a few points but could not win and we need to do better.

Despite the defeat, Aaron-Wooi Yik can still hold their heads high after winning their second consecutive medal at the world meet and emerging as Malaysia’s best performers.

It was also a double joy for Seung-jae as he had earlier booked a spot in the mixed doubles final with Chae Yu-jung after both stunned second seeds Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino of Japan 21-15, 21-13 in an earlier semi-final match.

South Korea also celebrated sensational An Se-young’s march into the women’s singles final.

The 21-year-old defeated Chen Yufei of China 21-19, 21-15 to become only the second Korean to reach the women’s singles final in 30 years since Bang Soo-hyun’s feat in 1993.

Se-young will play three-time world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in her 11th final out of 12 tournaments this season – and the most consistent player is looking good indeed to become her country’s first women’s singles world champion on Sunday (Aug 27).

THE FIXTURES

(Starts from 6pm Malaysian time onward in this order below)

Mixed doubles: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) vs Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung (Kor)

Women’s doubles:Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) vs Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia (Ina)

Women’s singles: Carolina Marin (Spa) vs An Se-young (Kor)

Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) vs Kodai Naraoka (Jpn)

Men’s doubles: Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) vs Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor)

SEMI-FINAL RESULTS

Men’s singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt H.S. Prannoy (Ind) 18-21, 21-13, 21-14; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Anders Antonsen (Den) 25-23, 21-12.

Men’s doubles: Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Den) bt Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) 17-21, 21-18, 21-19; Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) 23-21, 21-13.

Women’s singles: Carolina Marin (Spa) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 23-21, 21-13; An Se-young (Kor) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-19, 21-15.

Women’s doubles: Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn) bt Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu (Chn) 21-14, 21-16; Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia (Ina) bt Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong (Kor) 21-9, 22-20.

Mixed doubles: Seo Seung-jae-Chae Yu-jung (Kor) bt Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino (Jpn) 21-15, 21-13; Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn) bt Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) 21-18, 21-16.