Aaron Wooi Yik In French Open Semis The Rest Eliminated

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Malaysia suffered a major setback when six of the seven doubles pairs lost in the quarter-finals.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will meet Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the semi-finals of the French Open. (Bernama pic)PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik salvaged some pride for Malaysia at the French Open on an otherwise disappointing day at the quarter-finals of the World Tour Super 750 event
Of the seven quarter-finalists from the nation, the world No 2 pair were the only ones who qualified for the semi-finals after defeating the 11th-ranked Indonesian duo of Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.
Aaron-Wooi Yik kept their cool to win narrowly 21-19, 16-21, 21-19 in the tight match that lasted 64 minutes.
The French Open will be the 10th semi-final appearance for the Malaysians this season where they have won three titles so far. They clinched the Badminton Asia Championships, Singapore Open and Thailand Open crowns.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will take on world No 7 Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the last four. They lost to the Indonesians in the China Open final in May, which was their only encounter to date.
The Indonesians defeated Malaysia’s world No 19 ranked Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King in straight games to earn their semifinal spot.
The Malaysians went down 14-21, 22-24 in 47 minutes. They were among the six Malaysian pairs who lost in the quarter-finals.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani came closest to making the semis. They lost to the top Danish pair Kim Astrup- Anders Skaarup Rasmussen despite having three match points in the deciding game.
The world No 4 pair went down 14-21, 21-17, 23-25 to the eighth-ranked Danes in a match that lasted 69 minutes.
As for Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, the world No 5 men’s doubles pair fought hard against the world No 1 shuttlers Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae before losing 21-18, 14-21, 10-21 in 54 minutes.
World No 2 women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah found their 16th ranked Chinese opponents Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan too strong, losing 21-16, 21-16 in a match that lasted 39 minutes.
This is their 10th loss to the reigning Olympic champions in 11 encounters so far. This is the same venue where the Chinese pair beat them at the Olympics semi-final last year.
Last night, mixed doubles pairs Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei were also eliminated in the quarter-finals. - FMT

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