Friends forever
Being buddies the key to Aaron and Wooi Yik’s quick rise as a pair
AARON Chia and Soh Wooi Yik are not only partners on court, but also close buddies in real life as well.
The men’s doubles sensation, who took the World Championships by storm with a creditable quarter-final outing in Nanjing, revealed how their close friendship helped them to forge a strong combination on court.
Aaron, 21, said he and Wooi Yik, 20, have been friends for a decade, having first competed against each other during the local badminton circuit.
“I represented Malacca while he (Wooi Yik) played for Kuala Lumpur back then. Back then, we were singles players, competing against each other,” recalled Aaron.
“But we got along very well and soon became friends. Our friendship got closer when we enrolled in the Bukit Jalil Sports School.”
No wonder Aaron and Wooi Yik are the BFF (Best Friends Forever) as they share many things in common.
“We are big fans of K-Pop, we love playing FIFA (video game) on PlayStation 4 and lately, we’re quite into mobile games,” said Aaron.
“We don’t have a PS, but the two of us will always go to (Lee) Zii Jia’s (men’s singles shuttler) room to play.
“And we don’t team up only for badminton, we also combined in PUBG (mobile game Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds) to fight other.
“So, there’s always trust between us, which is a very important element.
When there’s a problem in our performance, we will sit down and talk rather than get angry or start pointing fingers.”
Wooi Yik added that being able to communicate well with Aaron is the reason why their partnership has flourished within a short period.
“In doubles, the most important thing is communication. Aaron and I, we can talk about almost anything.
“We are both straightforward people, so things come easy when we speak our hearts out. Those small things really help us a lot on court.”
Aaron-Wooi Yik’s explosive display in Nanjing is no surprise if the enormous promise they’ve shown in recent months is anything to go by.
In April, they took two-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan to three games before losing 17-21, 21-17, 19-21 in the final of the Malaysian International Challenge.
At the Malaysian Open in June, they gave world No. 1 Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon of Indonesia a run for their money before going down 18-21, 28-30, earning them praise from Badminton Association Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Norza Zakaria.
Aaron-Wooi Yik aim to build on their strong display when they play in the Vietnam Open next week.
“At the beginning of the year, we hoped to break into the world top 50 and at least win an international title. But now, we have exceeded expectations,” said Aaron.
“We should be moving up to somewhere in the top 25. There’s still four months to go, we’ll try for maybe top 15 or better before the year end.”