PETALING JAYA: Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, Malaysia’s men’s doubles shuttlers, advanced to the All-England semi-finals, while Lee Zii Jia’s singles journey came to an end.
World No. 5 Aaron and Wooi Yik cruised past Indonesia’s Fikri and Maulana, the 2022 champions and world No. 9, with a score of 21-14, 21-11 in just 31 minutes at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham. This victory marked their fifth consecutive win over the Indonesian pair.
The duo is set to face Taiwan’s Lee and Yang in the upcoming semi-final match. Lee and Yang have recently clinched the German Open title and finished as runners-up in the French Open.
The other semi-final will feature Japan’s Hoki and Kobayashi against Indonesia’s Alfian and Ardianto.
Wooi Yik expressed their satisfaction with the performance, stating, “We were able to execute our strategy well today and we played confidently, so we are very happy. We have to keep improving as we have a tough match next against the Taiwanese pair, who have been playing very well recently.”
On the other hand, Zii Jia faced a tough defeat against India’s Sen, the 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist, in a thrilling 71-minute match. Despite fighting back from a deficit in the third game, Zii Jia fell short as Sen claimed the victory.
It was the fourth defeat for Zii Jia in five encounters with Sen. Reflecting on the match, Zii Jia expressed his frustration, saying, “I’m frustrated that I could not win the match. I played well but Lakshya was on his best form.”
In another upset, Denmark’s Axelsen, the top seed, was eliminated after losing to Indonesia’s Ginting in a three-game battle.
Ginting will now face France’s Popov, while Sen is set to compete against Indonesia’s Christie in the upcoming rounds.
