KUALA LUMPUR: National top men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, have another shot at breaking their semifinal jinx after they defeated South Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu-Seo Seung Jae in the last eight of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships 2022 in Tokyo.
It was a closely fought battle in the first game after both pairs traded points until the score reached 9-9, before the Malaysian duo prevailed to take the opening game 21-18.
After trailing by one point at the halfway mark in the second game, Aaron-Wooi Yik, who are seeded sixth, then stepped up a gear to seal the game and match with 21-16 victory over the 10th-seeded Koreans.
Speaking to BWF after the match, Wooi Yik said their calmness played a pivotal role in helping them to defeat their opponents.
“Key to our victory today was being able to play calmly. We also made a number of high-quality shots that put added pressure on our opponents,” he said.
Meanwhile, Aaron hoped to keep the momentum going as they were keen to end their semifinal curse and enter the final on Sunday.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallist will next take on seventh seeds, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty from India, who created an upset by defeating defending champions, Takuro Hoki-Yiugo Kobayashi of Japan, 24-22, 15-21, 21-14.
Aaron and Wooi Yik have not been able to advance beyond the semifinal in six different tournaments this year. This includes the recently concluded Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, where they lost to English pair, Ben Lane-Sean Vendy, 21-18, 17-21, 4-21.