Malaysia’s young men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik put themselves as serious title contenders in the prestigious All England HSBC World Super 1000 after booking a place in the semi-finals.
In a late night match on Friday, the Malaysians ruled Court 1 with a stunning three-game 21-19, 17-21, 21-12 victory over China’s 12th ranked Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan in 64 minutes in the quarter-finals – their second victory over the 2017 world champions, having beaten them in the Malaysia Masters early this year.
Ranked 18, Aaron, 22 years and Wooi Yik, 21 years, will now play Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto, ranked No 9, for a place in the final.
The Indonesians had earlier defeated Malaysia’s Rio Olympics silver medallists Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong 22-20, 21-12.
“We have played them (Fajar-Ardianto) before and won. For the semis we will watch a video recording of them to plan our match plans,” said Aaron after the win over the Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan.
“As for our win over the Chinese, the court conditions suited our attacking style. It is a morale-boosting win for us…it has boosted our confidence too.”
For the record, Liu Cheng-Zhang Nan defeated World No 1 and defending champions Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia in the first round. RIZAL ABDULLAHÂ
