KUALA LUMPUR: Top national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik led the way for Malaysian shuttlers by advancing to the second round of the 2024 Singapore Open badminton championships at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday.
The fourth-seeded Aaron-Wooi Yik had to toil for 41 minutes to overcome Taiwan’s Chang Ko-chi-Po Li-wei before prevailing 22-20, 21-17 in the first round.
World number five Aaron-Wooi Yik, seen as medal prospects for the country at the 2024 Paris Olympics, will take on another Taiwanese pair, Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin, in the next round.
Aaron-Wooi Yik suffered a major disappointment after losing in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Masters last week.
Accompanying Aaron-Wooi Yik in the men’s doubles second round are Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, who disposed of Thailand’s Supak Jomkoh-Kittinupong Kedren 21-12, 21-11 to set up a date with fifth seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark.
National mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also cleared their first-round hurdle by downing Germany’s Jan Colin Voelker-Isabel Lohau 21-14, 21-11 to set up a second-round clash against Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek of the Netherlands.
However, there was no such luck for national women’s singles professional shuttler Goh Jin Wei as she fell 20-22, 18-21 to third seed Carolina Marin of Spain in the opening round.
Earlier, national men’s singles number one Lee Zii Jia had to withdraw from the championships due to a hamstring injury when he conceded a walkover to Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. – BERNAMA
