KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14 — Malaysia’s top men’s doubles shuttler Soh Wooi Yik is determined to regain his true form alongside his partner Aaron Chia, as he recovers from a toe fracture.
Soh said that this step is crucial to maintain their current world ranking, which stands at fifth, rather than aiming to secure a spot in the World Tour Finals 2024 in Hangzhou, China, from December 11 to December 15.
“Actually, Aaron and I have discussed this, so we are not targeting the World Tour Finals this time because I am injured and it takes time to recover. Aaron understands my situation at the moment.
“So, we will participate in tournaments, including smaller ones, to get back in shape and stabilise our world ranking because if we don’t play, our ranking will drop,” he said during a training session.
According to the latest World Tour rankings, the 2022 World Men’s Doubles champions are currently ranked 11th and are outside the top eight pairs qualifying for the finals.
After deciding not to compete in the China Open 2024 next week, the 26-year-old hopes to regain his playing rhythm in the remaining tournaments of the season, starting with the Arctic Open 2024 in Vantaa, Finland, scheduled from October 8 to October 13.
Soh sustained the injury during their semi-final match against China’s Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang at the Paris Olympics last month.
In that match at Porte de La Chapelle Arena, the 2022 World Men’s Doubles champions lost 19-21, 21-15, 17-21.
They later redeemed themselves by retaining the bronze medal won at Tokyo 2020, overcoming Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark with a comeback win of 16-21, 22-20, 21-19.
— Bernama
