Badminton: Aaron-Wooi Yik bag bronze in Asian Games

HANGZHOU: It’s game over for Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik as their campaign in the Asian Games badminton competition ended with a 17-21, 12-21 defeat to India’s world No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the men’s doubles semi-finals on Friday (Oct 6).

The hard smashing Indian pair took the first game 21-17 and continued their relentless assault to close victory at 21-12 in front of a packed Binjiang Gymnasium.

Rankireddy-Shetty would take on South Korean pair Choi Sol-gyu-Kim Won-ho in the final on Saturday (Oct 7).

The South Korean pair brushed aside reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin 21-12, 21-10 in an earlier semi-final clash.

It is the second straight defeat for Aaron-Wooi at the hands of the Indian pair this year.

The Malaysian pair lost to the Indian pair for the first time in nine meetings at the Indonesian Open in June this year.

Despite this, Aaron-Wooi Yik should not feel too disappointed as they are still the only Malaysian shuttlers to make the Asian Games podium in Hangzhou.

Aaron-Wooi Yik, ranked fifth in the world, rose to the occasion to oust China’s Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi 21-18, 19-21, 21-18 in the quarter-finals on Thursday to ensure a medal for Malaysia in badminton.

Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong were the last Malaysians to win gold at the Asian Games stage when they won the men’s doubles title in Doha in 2006.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Datuk Lee Chong Wei were also the last Malaysian representatives to contest the final, back in 2010 when China last hosted the Asian Games in Guangzhou.