KUALA LUMPUR — Defending champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik’s dream of defending their world title was shattered early this morning after losing in the semifinals of the Badminton World Championships.
South Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae bested the defending champions in straight sets, 23-21, 21-13 at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen.
The world number six pair took 42 minutes to beat the Malaysians.
“Our opponents performed well and their victory in the first set boosted their confidence to give their all in the second set.
“During the first set, we had a four-point lead and we should learn to keep ourselves calm and focus more on holding our lead in the future.
“Past is past, we would like to move on and focus on the Asian Games which is scheduled to take place a month from now,” said Aaron in the post-match interview with BWF.
“We are disappointed for not making our country proud with a win but we promise to deliver more in our upcoming tournaments,” added Wooi Yik.
The duo ranked fourth in the world, started the tournament with a bye in the opening round.
They subsequently squared up against Jeppe Bay-Lasse Mølhede in the second round, needing three games to defeat the Danish pair, 18-21, 21-14, 21-16.
Their momentum continued as they triumphed over Tokyo Olympics gold medallists Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin in just 43 minutes, securing a swift straight-set victory, 21-16, 21-18, in the round of 16.
Advancing to the quarterfinals, Aaron-Wooi Yik exhibited their prowess by defeating the Chinese seventh-ranked pair, Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi, in a three-set encounter, 21-10, 15-21, 21-14.
Last year’s world title is still the only win in Aaron-Wooi Yik’s trophy cabinet. — August 27, 2023