KUALA LUMPUR, July 30 – The elusive Olympics gold remains a distant dream for Malaysian badminton when top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik fell in the semifinals – straight games 24-22, 21-13 to China’s former world champions Li Jun Hui-Liu Yu Chen.
It was a heartbreak defeat for the Malaysians who had stunned world No 1 and hot favorites Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the quarterfinals with a 21-14, 21-17 win – their first ever over the Indonesians in seven meetings.
Hopes of Aaron-Wooi Yik winning the gold soared after the impressive victory over the Indonesian top seeds but it turned out to be a false alarm. Against the Chinese the Malaysians were lost in a match held at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza.
One wonders if the win over Gideon and Sukamuljo had made them over confident?
The best Aaron-Wooi Yik can bring home is a bronze but for that they have to clear another Indonesian hurdle – second seeds Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
The veteran Indonesian pair will take a psychological advantage of beating the Malaysians 21-16, 21-18 in the group match.
Ahsan-Setiawan were also a pale shadow in their semifinals match against the unseeded pair of Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin of Chinese Taipei who crushed their Indonesian opponents with a 21-11, 21-10 win. Their current form makes them the favorites for the gold medal.
Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin also defeated the Indonesian pair at the BWF World Tour finals in Bangkok last year 21-17, 23-21 in the final.
At the Rio Olympics five years ago Malaysian won the silver in the men’s doubles through Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong.
(Pic credit to KA@Asiana)
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