Aaron-Wooi Yik beat old foes to face new enemies in q-final clash

PETALING JAYA: Doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will tread on an unfamiliar ground when they take on China’s He Jiting-Ren Xiangyu in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open.

On Thursday, Aaron-Wooi Yik staged a remarkable comeback to beat Indonesian old hands Mohamad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan 16-21, 21-5, 21-15 in the second round to set up a match against the Chinese scratch pair today.

The unseeded Jiting-Xiangyu blew away Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard 21-15, 21-5 to make up for the surprise defeats of their teammates and second seeds Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China in the first round on Wednesday,

Weikeng-Wang Chang lost 21-18, 19-21, 18-21 to the Danish pair.

Aaron said they would be cautious.

“We’ve not played against the Chinese pair before, they’ve just switched partners,” said Aaron.

“We will treat every match like it’s a final and this is no different.”

Aaron-Wooi Yik reached the semi-finals at the last year’s edition before losing to Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya of Indonesia.

They have a chance to make the last four again and national coaching director Rexy Mainaky wants them to keep the momentum going.

“Aaron-Wooi Yik were slower than usual in the first game against Hendra and Ahsan,” said Rexy.

“They were unaware of some tricky shots from their opponents and were caught off guard with some fast attacks too but fortunately, all those changed in the second and third.

“They were more solid after that. Their follow-up shots had quality and that gave them the confidence to go all the way.

“As for the next game, we will study their opponents. These China pair is a new combination … we will track their playing style.”

It was also good news for professionals Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi as they stormed into the quarter-finals after beating Akira Koga-Taichi Sato of Japan 21-17, 22-20. They play home stars Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen next.

Meanwhile, an anticipated second-round face-off between Lee Zii Jia and top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark did not happen.

Zii Jia made life difficult before advancing to the second round after beating Julien Carraggi of Spain 21-19, 15-21, 21-10 but Axelsen had to make a hard decision to withdraw from his home tournament due to leg injury.

Zii Jia plays Kenta Nishimoto of Japan next for a place in the semis.

RESULTS

(Malaysians only)

Second round

Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Mohamad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 16-21, 21-5, 21-15; Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi bt Akira Koga-Taichi Sato (Jpn) 21-17, 22-20.

Women’s doubles: Yeung Nga Ting-Yeung Pui Lam (Hkg) bt Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien 21-15, 17-21, 22-20.

Mixed doubles: Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 21-15, 21-12.

First round

Men’s singles: Lee Zii Jia bt Julien Carraggi (Spa) 21-19, 15-21, 21-10

Women’s doubles: Zhang Shuxian-Zheng Yu (Chn) bt Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing 21-18, 21-14.