KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 19 – Malaysia’s top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik had extra spring in their game and it was rewarding straight game 21-13, 21-15 win over reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipeh – their first win in four outings.
Bali, the venue for the Daihatsu Indonesia Masters Super 750 event that offers USD600,000 in total prize money, will see the Malaysians, winners of the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, take on Japan’s Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in the last four on Saturday.
The Japanese, ranked No 10, beat Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 19-21, 21-14, 21-19 in their quarter-final match at the Bali Convention Centre.
For the record, Aaron Chia-Wooi Yik have yet to win a BWF World Tour title and things could change for the Malaysians after the morale boosting win over the Taiwanese pair.
World No 14 Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi also marched into the last four after knocking out Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in three games 21-13, 18-21, 21-13 in 58 minutes. It will be a tough call for the Malaysian professionals for a place in Sundays final when face World No 1 and top seeds Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the semis.
The Indonesian favourites, however, have undergone a rocky path this year and the 14th ranked Malaysians should fancy their chances in the holiday resort.
While the men’s doubles celebrated it was the end of the road for women’s doubles Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah who went out 14-21, 15-21 to Japanese pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida in 40 minutes.
In the mixed doubles top seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai of Thailand showed Hoo Pang Ron-Cheah See Yee the exit with a 21-17, 21-9 win in 34 minutes.