
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia has secured at least one spot in the quarterfinals of the 2024 PETRONAS Malaysia Open in the men’s doubles category.
This comes as two Malaysian pairs, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik and Nur Izzuddin/Goh Sze Fei, will face each other in the second round on Thursday.
Highlights of Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik vs. Rasmus Kjaer/Frederik Sogaard in 2024 Malaysia Open first round:
Earlier, Chia/Soh bounced back from a first-set defeat to defeat the Danish pair, Rasmus Kjaer/Frederik Sogaard, 20-22, 21-13, 21-13 in the first-round action at the Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, on Wednesday.
Izzuddin/Goh confirmed their spot in the round of 16 after easily overcoming the Thai pair, Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren, with a score of 21-17, 22-20.
“It will be another tough match for us against teammates. We practice together every day and know each other’s playing patterns.”
“As representatives of Malaysia, it doesn’t matter who wins and advances to the quarterfinals because both represent the country. We will fight and give our best,” said Chia commenting on the upcoming clash with Izzuddin/Goh.
When asked about their victory over Kjaer-Sogaard today, Aaron said, “This was our first match against them, and we were not quite comfortable with their playing style in the first set.”
“However, we were fortunate to come back strong in the first set and then regained confidence to face the remaining two sets.”
Chia/Soh found themselves trailing several times in the first set before managing to catch up to 18-18 before losing 20-22.
Meanwhile, the mixed doubles pair from Malaysia, Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei, also passed their initial test by defeating the French pair Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue 21-17, 21-18.
Waiting for them in the next round is the former world champions from Thailand, Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai.