Top men’s pair relieved to have finally broken jinx against bogeyman Yuchen

PETALING JAYA: It was a victory in defeat for men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik at the World Championships as they had solved a seven-year riddle by overcoming their bogey player Liu Yuchen of China in Copenhagen last week.

Personally, it may have been a disappointment as Aaron-Wooi Yik were unable to defend their title after they were beaten in the semi-finals by eventual winners Seo Seung-jae-Kang Min-hyuk of South Korea but the Malaysians can feel relieved that they’ve got the monkey off their backs.

Yu Chen, who had beaten the Malaysian pair six straight times with former partner Li Junhui since 2018, was also unbeaten with new partner Ou Xuanyi in their last three meetings against Aaron-Wooi Yik prior to the World Championships.

However, Aaron-Wooi Yik finally ended their winless run against Yuchen-Xuanyi by securing a brilliant 21-10, 15-21, 21-14 win in the quarter-finals.

Aaron felt that the win provided positive vibes and practically denied Yuchen bragging rights as he had already outwitted Aaron-Wooi Yik nine times in a row with two different partners before the Copenhagen clash.

“We have never beaten Yuchen’s combination (with Junhui or Xuanyi) and we feel really good after winning in the quarter-finals. It has given us positive vibes,” said Aaron after returning from Copenhagen yesterday.

“After that win, we are looking forward to better results in the events after this.

“The bronze was not what we wanted but we are still grateful to return with a medal although we were hoping for the title.

“We have to accept this as we have done our best and the good thing is that we managed to win a medal in a major event again.”

Wooi Yik also felt that the victory over Yuchen-Xuanyi is an important breakthrough as they were able to rectify their weaknesses to overcome the China pair.

Although the Malaysian pair have dropped in the world rankings from fourth to sixth after their semi-final exit in Copenhagen, Wooi Yik feels that they have gained confidence after the win against Yuchen-Xuanyi.

“We have lost to them nine times and the victory has given us more motivation and the way to move forward,” said Wooi Yik.

“We will continue to work on overcoming our weakness and do well in the China Open.”

After having bagging the world title in Tokyo last year, Aaron-Wooi Yik have yet to win a Badminton World Federation (BWF) tour title and Wooi Yik is more concerned about their consistency.

“We are trying to give our best in every tournament and aim to at least reach the semi-finals or the final. We don’t want to aim straight at the title first,” added Wooi Yik.

Aaron-Wooi Yik will also have a challenging draw in the China Open from Sept 5-10 where they are expected to meet either world champions Seung-jae-Min-hyuk of South Korea or India’s world No. 2 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India in the last four.

Should the Malaysian pair reach the final, they could set up an exciting clash against Yuchen and Xuanyi.

That will be the test that they would want to overcome to make another breakthrough in Changzhou.