Challenge for Malaysians to end hot streak of fresh Korean duo

The Star

14-07-2025

PETALING JAYA: South Korean men's doubles hotshots Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho seem unstoppable in major tournaments but can Malaysians end their hot streak?
Seung-jae-Won-ho, who only combined at the beginning of this year, have already clinched three World Tour Super 1000 titles so far at the Malaysian Open, Indonesian Open and All-England.
And they can add another in the Super 1000 China Open next week but first, they will compete in the Super 750 Japan Open starting today.
The Malaysians have stopped them on their track thrice this year but in lower-tiered tournaments.
Professional shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have knocked them out in the Indian Open (Super 750), and former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik ousted them in the Singapore Open (Super 750).
Having reached every final so far, the Koreans will be a tough nut to crack.
And Seung-jae-Won-ho's stunning form has also seen them rise to No. 3 in the world and are only behind Sze Fei-Izzuddin (No. 1) and Aaron-Wooi Yik (No. 2) in the rankings.
Their main goal is to win the title at the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris and the Malaysian pairs will need to be at their best to stop the duo from dominating in the next three tourneys.
In the Japan Open, second seeds Aaron-Wooi Yik are likely to take on third seeds Seung-jae-Won-ho in a mouthwatering semi-final clash if both pairs justify their respective seedings.
Aaron-Wooi Yik have been in fine form themselves since April, capturing the Asian Championships, Thailand Open along with the Singapore Open and finishing runners-up to world No. 7 teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the Malaysian Masters.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will first need to overcome fellow Malaysians Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in their opening match.
A win will likely see them play Japan's Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura in the second round and if they make it into the last eight, they could face a more difficult test against either China's Paris Olympics silver medallists Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang or India's 2022 Asian Games champions Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
Meanwhile, Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who are also the defending champions, should have little trouble getting past Canada's Kevin Lee-Ty Alexander in the first round.
A trickier test, however, awaits them in the second round against either Japan's Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita or Taiwan's Wang Chi-lin-Chiu Hsiang-chieh.
In other opening men's doubles matches involving Malaysians, Wei Chong-Kai Wun will meet teammates Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi while French brothers Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov stand in the way of Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub.