KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia’s top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik have taken aim at the Badminton World Federation (BWF), saying poor officiating continues to plague the sport and affect Asian players unfairly.
Their comments came in response to the controversial second-round match at the Malaysia Masters yesterday, which saw their junior teammates Kang Khai Xing and Aaron Tai narrowly lose 21-10, 24-26, 21-16 to Denmark’s seventh seeds Rasmus Kjaer and Frederik Sogaard — a match marred by several disputed umpiring calls.
Aaron and Wooi Yik exacted swift revenge by defeating the Danes in straight games 21-10, 21-19 in the quarter-finals today.
The world No. 3 duo will now face another Danish pair — top seeds and world no. 1 Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen — in tomorrow’s semi-finals.
Not holding back when discussing the officiating in the earlier match involving their younger teammates, Aaron told the local media, “To all Malaysians, it’s not the opponents’ fault — it’s the umpire and all the referees. To be honest, BWF always does this. I don’t know why — they haven’t changed after all this time.”
Wooi Yik echoed Aaron’s frustration, saying, “It didn’t affect me too much, but everyone is struggling with this. It always happens to us and other Asian players — it’s quite obvious. But it’s nothing against the opponents.”
Despite the criticism, the pair remain focused on the job at hand, and that is to try and win their first World Tour title on home soil.
“We’re still in a good place, just staying focused and enjoying our game at the moment,” Aaron added.
When asked about the semi-finals against Astrup and Rasmussen, which is a repeat of the 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal play-off, Wooi Yik concluded, “Every day is a different story. We’ll give our best tomorrow. It won’t be easy — they’re old rivals and we’ve faced them many times over the years. Whether we win or lose, what matters is how we control our game.”
Meanwhile, national pair Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun pulled off a breakthrough win by defeating world number two Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani 19-21, 21-7, 21-16 — their first victory against their former national teammates.
The 2023 finalists will face Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi next.
In the women’s doubles, top national pair Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah continued their strong form, brushing aside Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi 21-14, 21-14.
Fresh off their Thailand Open triumph, Pearly and Thinaah now face seventh seeds Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian of China in the semi-finals tomorrow. — May 23, 2025