Kuala Lumpur: The 2023 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) will kick off its first day on Tuesday, and it’s going to be a good opportunity for Malaysia’s reigning World Champions – Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik to redeem themselves and to prepare themselves as the qualifying period for “Race to Paris” will start on May 1.
The World No. 2 men’s pair’s recent results have been dismal after crashing out in the early rounds at the 2023 German Open, 2023 All England, and the 2023 Swiss Open.
Therefore, the 2023 BAC should be a moment of awakening for Chia/Soh who is also definitely looking for an opportunity to make up for the disappointment of losing to Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Rambitan of Indonesia in the final of 2022 BAC in Manila, Philippines.
The Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) Doubles Coaching Director, Rexy Mainaky, told Malaysian media that both Chia and Soh are fully prepared to start the challenge in Dubai.
“Their preparation is going well. I hope they can play at the same standard as how they have been playing during the training session,” said Mainaky who previously said he was disappointed with the results produced by Chia/Soh in Europe.
Meanwhile, Chia/Soh were handed a difficult draw at the 2023 BAC as they were scheduled to meet Indonesian pair Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin in the first round – the opponents who eliminated them in the first round of 2023 All England.
If they advance to the second round, they are expected to meet the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games gold medalist from Taiwan, Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin, while the world number seven pair from China, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang is predicted to await them if they advance to the quarter-finals.
Mainaky also said the BAC competition will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the video simulation training, which is an additional training program (twice a week) for Chia/Soh to help them get back to their real performance level.
“We will evaluate the results to see whether it’s effective or not,” said Mainaky who also conducted a similar simulation exercise with World No. 8 women’s doubles pair – Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan.
