Kuala Lumpur: The 2023 Malaysia Open is only a week away and Malaysia’s reigning World Champions, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik’s preparations for the BWF World Tour Super 1000 event were going smoothly.
The fourth-seeded Chia/Soh who were drawn into the bottom half of the draw will play Taiwanese pair Lee Jhe Huei/Yang Po Hsuan in the first round. They will play the winners between Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi or Ben Lane/Sean Vendy in the second round.
“There is only about a week left for us to prepare as best as possible, and we are in good condition,” said Chia.
Chia also said that this season is going to be important for them in order to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
“This year is very important for us because the Olympic qualifying period starts on May 1, 2023,” said Chia.
Besides Chia/Soh, other Malaysian men’s doubles representatives competing in the Super 1000 event were Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin, and Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun.
In last year’s edition, Chia/Soh lost to Japan’s Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 21-23, 9-21 in the semi-finals, and Hoki/Kobayashi ended up winning the title by beating Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto 24-22, 16-21, 21-9.
One week after the Malaysia Open, they were again defeated in the 2022 Malaysia Masters semi-finals by losing to the Indonesian pair, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto 14-21, 21-19, and 10-21. Alfian/Ardianto outlasted their compatriots Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan 21-12, 21-19 in the final.
However, Chia/Soh were able to make up for their disappointments at the World Championships held in Tokyo last August by defeating Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan 21-19, 21-14 in the final thus giving Malaysia its maiden World Championships title.
In men’s singles, last year’s finalists – Viktor Axelsen, and Kento Momota could possibly be meeting each other in the second round as both were drawn to the top half of the draw. Meanwhile, local favorite and World No. 2 Lee Zii Jia could be playing compatriot Ng Tze Yong in the second round.
