In the action at the Axiata Arena, the 2022 world champions beat Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin 21-15, 21-16 in straight sets to establish themselves as the No 1 men’s doubles pair in the country.

However, they are expected to face an uphill battle in the quarterfinals tomorrow since they will be facing South Korea’s 2023 world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae, who beat Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan from Taiwan 21-13, 21-14 in straight sets.

“A little sad to have disposed our sparring partners because we train together everyday. Unfortunately, we still need to prove our best and we played more consistently.”

“Aaron and me have been in similar situations many times before so we have to be very focused tomorrow. There is no denying that tomorrow is going to be a tough assignment. We hope the support from the home fans can gives us a big boost,” said Wooi Yik when met by reporters after the match.

Based on statistics, Min-hyuk and Seung-jae, who emerged as the 2023 World Tour Finals champions, defeated Aaron and Wooi Yik in their first meeting at the World Championships in August while the Malaysians turned the tables on the South Korean pair in the semifinals of the 2023 China Open a month later.

Aaron-Wooi Yik’s best achievement in the Malaysia Open was reaching the semifinals in 2019 and last year they were eliminated in the second round.

Earlier, the country’s professional men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Yeo Ee Yi marched into the quarterfinals after stunning Denmark’s world No 5 pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-10, 11-21, 24-22 in three sets.

But while the two men’s doubles pairs advanced to the quarterfinals, the country’s representation in all other categories ended today as Goh Jin Wei lost in the women’s singles, while three mixed doubles pairs, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See, and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also failed to advance.