All England Title Remains Elusive For Chia Soh

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National men’s doubles pair, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik missed out on a chance to seal their maiden All England title after going down to defending champions from Indonesia, Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in Birmingham yesterday.
In the final action held at the Utilita Arena Birmingham, something was off for the 2022 world champions from the beginning of the first game as the fifth seeds trailed 1-6 before Fajar-Muhammad Rian, seeded seventh, closed it out 21-16.
It was a tight contest in the second set as both pairs fought neck and neck and tied at 10-10 but a series of unforced errors proved costly for Aaron-Wooi Yik, which gave their opponent an edge and retained the title with a straight sets victory by the same scoreline of 21-16.
The loss meant the All England title remained elusive for the 2020 Olympic Games bronze medallist after they lost to the former three-times world champions from Indonesia Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, 21-11, 14-21, 12-21 in the 2019 final.
The last time a Malaysian men's doubles pair won the All England title was in the 2007 edition through Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong who defeated China's Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng 21-15, 21-18.
On Saturday, Aaron-Wooi Yik stormed to the final as they saw off Taiwanese duo Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan 21-16, 21-15 in the semi-finals, while Fajar-Muhammad Rian ousted Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan, 21-18, 21-18.
Fajar-Muhammad Rian pocketed US$96,200 (RM452,572) while Aaron-Wooi Yik took home US$45,500 (RM214,055) from the world’s oldest badminton tournament. The recent title that the Malaysians won was last October, which was also their first ever World Tour title by trouncing Indonesian pair Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana 21-13, 21-17.
Though Aaron-Wooi Yik emerged as the second best in the Super 1000 event in Birmingham, the national badminton camp still had something to cheer about as rising pair, Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri bagged the men’s doubles title in the Orleans Masters 2024 in France.
Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal survived a rubber set battle against Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani from Indonesia, 21-15, 18-21, 21-14 in the final of the Super 300 event at Palais des sports.
- Bernama

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