BANGKOK, May 18 — National men’s doubles shuttlers and reigning Asian doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are on track for their second title of the year after advancing to the Thailand Open final on Saturday.
The second seeds needed just 38 minutes to overcome home favourites and fifth seeds, Kittinupong Kedren-Dechapol Puavaranukroh, 21-17, 21-13 in the semi-final.
This marks the Malaysian pair’s second Thailand Open final, having finished runners-up in 2020.
Soh said they were not focusing on the prospect of consecutive titles this year, and are instead keeping their attention on the next match.
“We have been through many finals in tournaments, experiencing both success and failure, so we do not want to think too much about winning back-to-back titles this year.
“We will continue to learn from our coaches and improve our game to avoid putting too much pressure on ourselves. Tomorrow’s final is just another match for us to develop our skills,” he told Bernama after their match at Nimibutr Stadium yesterday.
Despite the strong support for Kittinupong-Dechapol from the home crowd, Aaron-Wooi Yik controlled the first game, winning 21-17, and sealed the match in straight sets with a commanding 21-13 victory.
Aaron noted that their game plan and court control had improved since the first round of the tournament, during which they had played a late match past midnight.
“Our performance has been improving with each match we play. We aim to focus on what we need to do and maintain belief in each other. Winning or losing comes second to doing our best,” he said.
He also expressed hope they would maintain their positive momentum in tomorrow’s match, regardless of their opponent.
In the final, Aaron-Wooi Yik will face either world No.4 Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia, or Denmark’s world No.75 duo William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer, who are set to play later today.
The last Malaysian men’s doubles pair to win the Thailand Open title were Chan Peng Soon-Lim Khim Wah in 2009.
— Bernama
