KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 — Men’s doubles world champions Aaron Chia – Soh Wooi Yik are not ready to make any promises about ending the country’s five-year title drought in the Malaysia Masters that will be held at the Axiata Arena from May 23 to May 28.
Chia, 26, admitted to being excited and nervous about playing in front of the home fans at the championships, which will be the first of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour that offers ranking points in the Race to Paris.
“It is difficult to say (whether we can win or not), so I feel that we should not talk. Achieve it first, then talk.
“The (one-year) qualifying period for the 2024 Paris Olympics is set to begin on May 1, so all the upcoming championships during that period will be crucial. We hope to maintain our consistency,” he told the Malaysia Masters media conference at the Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM), earlier today.
Malaysian shuttlers last emerged as winners in the Malaysia Masters when Tan Kian Meng – Lai Pei Jing triumphed in mixed doubles in 2017, while Datuk Lee Chong Wei remains the most successful Malaysian shuttler in the tournament with five men’s singles crowns (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2016) since its inception in 2009.
The 2021 edition was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chia also disclosed that BAM’s approach in using video simulation training since early this month had helped them improve their performances and he hopes the training method will pay off when they compete in the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, from April 25-30.
“It has helped us rectify mistakes that we commonly make and reduce our unforced errors. I can’t share much more about this due to privacy issues,” he explained.
Chia – Soh struggled for consistency during the series of championships in Europe last month.
Meanwhile, Soh, 25, said they are well-prepared for the BAC and hope to perform well to regain their confidence ahead of the qualifying period for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which begins with the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, China from May 14 to May 21.
“We have worked on improving our skills, tactics and exchanges as well as on being more connected during matches. We hope these will help but we are not placing high hopes for the BAC as there are many more important tournaments after that,” he said.
— Bernama
