KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 23 – They were a disappointment last week with a first-round defeat but Malaysia’s top doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have bounced back in style when they stormed into the final of the Toyota Thailand Open in Bangkok on Saturday.
The Malaysians gave an inspiring performance in the semi-finals to stop the hard-hitting Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty for a 21-18, 21-18 win in 35 minutes and take a crack at their first Super 1000 title.
In Sunday’s final the Malaysians will face last week’s champions and sixth seeds Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei who defeated reigning world champions and second seeds Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia. The Indonesians ranked No 2 in the world lost 21-14, 20-22, 12-21.
For Aaron-Wooi Yik this is their second Super 1000 final after finishing runners-up to Ahsan-Hendra in the 2019 All-England Championships.
It has been a remarkable week for Aaron-Wooi Yik who crashed out in the first round last week – losing to Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong. They made up for that defeat by beating V Shem-Wee Kiong in the quarter-finals in the Toyota Thailand Open.
The final also allows Aaron-Wooi Yik to achieve where V Shem-Wee Kiong failed last week. The Malaysian professionals lost the Yonex Thailand Open final 16-21, 23-21, 19-21.
”It has been a good week for us and we have worked out our shortcomings. This time around we have been playing with more confidence and we are fully focused on the final,” said Aaron.
Malaysia’s hopes of the final in the women’s doubles ended with the defeat to Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Men Yean – suffering a 17-21, 6-21 defeat to Korean fourth seeds Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee Yong.
In the mixed doubles, Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah See Yee fell to a 21-9, 21-16 defeat to Korean fourth seeds Seo Seung Jae-Chae YuJung. The duo had defeated sixth seeds Hafiz Faizal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the quarter-finals.
The women’s singles final will be a repeat of last week with top-ranked and top seed Tai Tzu Ying taking on Spain’s reigning Olympic champion Carolina Marin for the title.
Tzu Ying broke the hearts of the home supporters when she edged Ratchanok Intanon in a 59-minute three-game thriller 12-21, 21-12, 23-21 while Marin roared to a 21-19, 21-15 win over 18-year-old Korean An Se Young.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, the world number four, defeated world number two Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei 21-19, 21-15 in 51 minutes. The Dane also won last week’s title.
It will be an all-Denmark men’s final after 36-year-old Hans Kristian Vittinghus defeated his 23-year-old compatriot Anders Antonsen (No 3 seed) 21-19, 21-8 for a fairy tale run in the tournament after he was promoted from the reserves list.
Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai put themselves in line for their second successive mixed doubles title. In the semis, the Thai top seeds beat India’s Satwiksairaj-Ashwini Ponnappa 22-20, 18-21, 21-12.
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