KUALA LUMPUR, July 5 — National top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik started their 2022 Malaysia Masters campaign on the right footing by ousting Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito in the first round here today.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, seeded fifth, did not disappoint fans in Axiata Arena as they put up a commendable show to register a straight-game win at 21-16, 21-19.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallists will next square off against South Korea’s Kim Gi Jung-Kim Sa Rang, who disposed of Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-Huei-Yang Po-Hsuan 14-21, 21-15, 21-19.
Aaron, when met after the match, admitted they had yet to recover from last Saturday’s semi-final loss to world number two Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 21-23, 9-21 in the 2022 Malaysia Open.
“That feeling was still there on court and we hope to get over it in the match against the South Korean pair tomorrow. We won’t take it easy against our next opponents because they are a good pair,” he said.
Another national men’s doubles pair, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, came up short again today against Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto, their conquerors in the semi-finals of the 2022 Malaysia Open.
A series of unforced errors proved costly for the 2022 German Open champions as they were defeated 21-14, 22-20 by the Indonesians.
Nur Izzuddin admitted there was not much difference to their performance last Saturday while Sze Fei said they needed to improve their mental strength to better handle the pressure in future tournaments.
Meanwhile, independent pair Goh V Shem-Low Juan Shen came from behind to beat Indonesia’s Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana 15-21, 21-14, 21-19.
A rough journey awaits V Shem-Juan Shen next as they will play Hoki-Kobayashi after the Japanese pair narrowly beat China’s Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi 21-18, 22-24, 22-20.
In all-Malaysian encounter, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun got the better of professional duo Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Lim Khim Wah, 21-13, 21-14, to set up a clash against another home pair, Boon Xin Yuan-Wong Tien Ci-Wan or Muhammad Arif Wan Junaidi-Muhammad Haikal Nazrin, in the second round.
Yee Jun Chang-Yap Roy King are also through to the second round after they emerged victorious against Irish pair Joshua Magee-Paul Reynolds, 21-14, 22-20.
Jun Chang-Roy King will next battle against the winners of the first round match between China’s He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong and Taiwanese duo Chang Ko-Chi-Po Li-Wei.
Professional duo Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kong, on the other hand, faltered against third seeds Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, losing tamely to the Indonesians 18-21, 13-21. — Bernama
