Aaron and Wooi Yik continue giant- killing feat to reach last eight
LET’S dream bigger! High-flying men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have set their sights on reaching the final in their World Championships debut after continuing their giant-killing act.
World No. 8 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark became the latest high-profile opponents to be knocked out by the Malaysian youngsters yesterday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who earned their place in the world meet at the eleventh hour, won the 42-minute contest 21-18, 21-16 in emphatic fashion at the Youth Olympic Sports Park Arena.
“It’s just unbelievable. We have just beaten a world top-10 pair!” said 21-year-old Aaron.
“This has to be our best performance this week. We have achieved our goal of reaching the last eight. If we go beyond this, it will be a bonus.
“But having come this far, why not dream bigger? Semi-finals, or even the final is not impossible. It’s just two wins away.”
Wooi Yik said the key to beating the European champions was not seeing them as superior.
“Although they are the world No. 8, we didn’t show them too much respect,” said Wooi Yik.
“I think we caught them off guard with our quick attacking. From the start, we controlled the front court and killed the rally whenever the opportunities came,” said Wooi Yik.
Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong came agonisingly close to making it an all-Malaysian affair in the quarter-finals but they went down 21-16, 15-21, 20-22 to fourth seeds Li JunhuiLiu Yuchen of China.
The Rio Olympics silver medallists managed to save a match point in the decider but luck was not on their side and they suffered another heartbreak with the narrow defeat.
“We have tried our best. The match was as close as it could get, and our opponents won with a little bit of luck,” said Wee Kiong.
“Reaching the last 16 is definitely not good enough, but at least we did everything we could.”