KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 15 — This year has so far been a wonderful year for national top men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik.

Last August, the current world number eight pair, secured their biggest career feat when they bounced back after losing the first set to grab the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal, beating second-seeded Indonesian pair Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, 17-21, 21-17, 21-14.

However, Aaron-Wooi Yik experienced a dip in form in the open tournaments following the Tokyo Olympics success.

The pair crashed out early at the hands of world number 26, Akira Koga-Taichi Saito of Japan, 18-21, 21-19, 14-21, in the second round of the Denmark Open 2021 before South Korean pair, Ko Sung Hyun-Shin Baekcheol, ranked 19th in the world, defeated the duo 14-21, 21-10, 24-22 in the last four of the French Open 2021.

Despite the setback in their last two outings, Aaron said they are now raring to clinch their elusive open title at the 2021 BWF World Championships in Huelva, Spain from December 12-19.

"We’re still hoping for that (world title) but we don’t put it as an expectation because we know once we expect too much, the worst could happen.

"So, what we can do is just do our best but we still aim for it and hunger for everything,” he told Bernama when contacted today.

In the meantime, the Melaka-born player hopes that they will shine in their Bali outings, starting with the Indonesian Masters from tomorrow until November 21 and Indonesian Open 2021 from November 23-28 in a bid to qualify for the World Tour Finals which will also be held at the world famous tourist destination from December 1 to 5.

The duo, who are currently ranked 14 in the world tour finals ranking, need to at least advance to the quarter final in the first two Bali outings to move up into the top eight and thus have a bright chance to play at pinnacle of the World Tour.

Asked on his current condition, the 24-year-old shuttler said he is now having a slight muscle soreness but that was just a normal situation faced by any shuttler.

Aaron-Wooi Yik are set to open their Indonesian Masters account against Ben Lane-Sean Vendy of England while German pair, Mark Lamsfuss-Marvin Seidel await them in the first round of the Indonesian Open 2021. 

Meanwhile, Pearly Tan, who had to skip Hylo Open 2021 in Germany recently due to a shoulder injury, said her condition was stable now and she would take the game one match at a time at her next outing in Indonesia Masters 2021 with her partner M. Thinaah.

"Of course, we have our own target but we do not want to think about it at the moment. We will give everything we can,” she said in an audio recording shared with the media today.

The eighth seeds in the women’s doubles will take on national professional duo Vivian Hoo-Lim Chiew Sien in the first round of the Indonesia Masters. — Bernama