Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s challenge in the PETRONAS Malaysia Open came to an end after the country’s last representatives, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, succumbed in the quarterfinals on Friday.
The nation’s top men’s doubles team had to acknowledge the prowess of the world champions from South Korea, Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae, as they lost in a three-set battle lasting 64 minutes at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil.
Highligts of Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik vs. Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae in quarterfinals of 2024 Malaysia Open:
Chia/Soh started aggressively in the first set, showcasing dominant play to control and win the match 21-16.
However, the second set witnessed the former world champions losing focus slightly, allowing their opponents to win 21-18, dragging the match into the deciding set.
The action in the third set saw intense competition between the two pairs in the early game, but after the interval, Chia/Soh seemed to make several easy mistakes, creating room for their opponents to accumulate points and win the match with a score of 21-13.
The defeat of Chia/Soh marks the absence of any more Malaysian representatives in this edition after another men’s doubles team, Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin, also lost in the quarterfinals against Japan’s Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi.
“I think we started well in the first set, but in the second set, perhaps we were too excited and too eager for victory, causing us to lose focus and preventing us from playing our true game,” said Chia after the match.
“We also struggled in the rally competition; they remained focused after grabbing two consecutive points, while we grappled with the situation inside the court,” Chia added.
This is the second consecutive edition where Malaysia has no representatives qualifying for the semifinals, following a similar fate last year with the best performance being Teo Ee Yi/Ong Yew Sin and the mixed doubles team, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, who were eliminated in the quarterfinals.
Chia/Soh was also eliminated in the second round last year.
Awaiting Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae in tomorrow’s semifinals is the Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, who advanced after defeating He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu from China 21-11, 21-8.
Another semifinal match involves the Chinese pair Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang against Hoki/Kobayashi.
