PARIS, July 31 — National men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik face a tough challenge in the knockout stages of the Paris 2024 Olympics tomorrow.
The bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020 have been drawn against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who defeated them in the semi-finals of last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games.
Despite winning eight of their 11 encounters against the Indian duo, Aaron and Wooi Yik have lost their last three meetings in straight sets.
Should they overcome the fifth-ranked pair, they will likely face another formidable challenge from top seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China, who are set to play against Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarter-finals.
Defending champions Lee Yang and Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan will compete against Supak Jomkoh and Kittinupong Kedren from Thailand, while world number two Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen from Denmark will face 2023 world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae from South Korea.
Aaron and Wooi Yik finished as runners-up in Group A, losing to Wei Keng and Chang 22-24, 14-21, but secured victories over Great Britain’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 on Saturday, and Canada’s Adam Dong and Nyl Yakura 21-10, 21-15 on Sunday. — Bernama
