HANGZHOU, Oct 6 — National men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia – Soh Wooi Yik had to be satisfied with just the bronze medal on their Asian Games debut after crashing out in the semi-finals.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists had their Asiad journey cut short after losing 17 – 21, 12 – 21 to world number three Satwiksairaj Rankireddy – Chirag Shetty of India at the Binjiang Gymnasium tonight.
World number five Chia – Soh have now suffered two straight defeats to the Indian pair in 10 encounters, with their previous loss coming at the 2023 Indonesian Open.
Chia attributed their defeat this time to committing unforced errors and a below-par performance.
“They put us under tremendous pressure with their service game. There was so much pressure in terms of gameplay as well,” he said.
Meanwhile, Soh said they will not let the defeat affect their morale and vowed to bounce back strongly for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“It is a learning process… I came here to learn something (it is my) first Asian Games. We made it to the semi-finals and, (for) just one match, we did not do well… (that) does not mean our level dropped.
“We need to bounce back in the upcoming tournaments. Our bigger target is the Olympics, so, this is a process,” he said.
In tomorrow’s final, Satwiksairaj – Chirag will face South Korea’s Choi Sol Gyu – Kim Won Ho, who stunned reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang – Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan 21 – 12, 21 – 10 in the other semi-final.
Chia – Soh, the 2022 world champions, were the only Malaysian shuttlers to make the semi-finals after all the others crashed out in the early rounds, despite the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) setting a gold medal target in the men’s team event.
In yesterday’s quarter-finals, Chia – Soh had to slog for 81 minutes to tame China’s Liu Yu Chen – Ou Xuan Yi 21 – 18, 19 – 21, 21 – 18 while Satwiksairaj-Chirag cruised to a 21 – 7, 21 – 9 win over Singapore’s Nge Joo Jie – Johann Prajogo.
The badminton team also failed to deliver any medals in the 2018 edition in Jakarta-Palembang, Indonesia, after contributing four bronze medals at the 2014 edition in Incheon, South Korea, in men’s singles (Datuk Lee Chong Wei), men’s doubles (Goh V Shem – Tan Wee Kiong), women’s doubles (Vivian Hoo – Woon Khe Wei), and the men’s team.
— Bernama
