Aaron-Wooi Yik subdue French brothers to reach China Open quarters
The win over the world No. 20 marked a significant breakthrough for the two-time Olympic bronze medallists, who are into their first Super 1000 quarter-final of the season, after early exits at the Malaysia Open (second round), All England (first round), and Indonesia Open (first round).
Aaron-Wooi Yik, runners-up the last time they featured in Changzhou in 2023, skipped last year's edition due to the former's toe injury. They are guaranteed to extend Malaysia's presence into the semi-finals, with their last-eight clash set to be an all-Malaysian affair against either Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun or Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King.
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Free Malaysia Today
5 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
On fire Aaron-Wooi Yik smash their way into China Open final
Today's semi-final success was the 11th time that Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have triumphed over India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty over 14 encounters. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : National men's doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik stormed into the China Open men's doubles final and stayed on track for their first World Tour Super 1000 title after defeating an Indian pair. World No 2 pair Aaron-Wooi Yik displayed superb power and defence to overcome the nippy 12th ranked Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 21-13, 21-17 in a semi-final match lasting 41 minutes. They will take on Indonesia's surprise package Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the final. The Indonesians are playing together for only the second time. Today's semi-final victory is the 11th time that Aaron-Wooi Yik have beaten the Indian pair in 14 encounters. The Malaysians, who are two-time Olympic bronze medallists, also set a record by being the first men's doubles pair in the world to qualify for the finals of a World Tour Super 1000 event six times. They will be making their second appearance in the China Open final after finishing as runners-up in 2023 and will be gunning for their fourth title this year after having won the Thailand Open, Singapore Open and the Badminton Asia Championships. The tournament offers a total prize money of US$2 million (RM8.4 million), with winners in the doubles events taking home US$148,000 (RM624,000) and the runners-up US$70,000 (RM295,146). The losing semi-finalists will each get US$28,000 (RM118,000).
New Straits Times
9 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Pay coaches what they deserve or be prepared to pay the 'ultimate price'
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia must pay top local coaches what they are worth or be prepared to face the consequences if they move abroad. That is the view of sports analyst Datuk Dr Pekan Ramli when asked about the departure of a number of Malaysian diving coaches and the sport's decline here in recent years. Pekan stressed that when it comes to remuneration, there should not be any double standards between foreign and local coaches if the latter have the right calibre. "In Malaysia currently there is a different salary scale for local (Malaysian) coaches and foreign coaches," said Pekan when contacted today (Aug 1). "We are always willing to pay big money for a foreign coach to come here but will not do the same for local coaches. "This should not be the case if our local coaches have strong credentials. Our divers, for example, were world class when they were competing as athletes and are sought after as coaches. "If they are qualified and are committed to coaching, there is no reason they should not be given a similar remuneration to the foreign coaches who come to work here. "It is okay to allow our local coaches to move abroad if they genuinely want a new challenge in their careers. "But they should not be moving abroad because they are disheartened by the environment or the remuneration here in Malaysia." Over the past year, Malaysia has lost former national divers Bryan Nickson Lomas and Wendy Ng to the South Korea and Singapore national teams. Bryan had previously been working with Malaysia Aquatics as diving technical director while Wendy was coaching the Federal Territories (FT) Malaysia Games squad. Debutante Ainslee Kwang, 14, became the first Singaporean to reach the semi-finals (women's 10m platform individual) at the ongoing world meet in Singapore after placing 13th in the preliminaries. In contrast, Malaysia's Lee Yiat Qing, 17, placed 29th in the same event and thus, missed the top-18 cut for the semi-finals. For a country that is used to winning world championship and Olympic medals in the past, it is a worrying development for Malaysian diving. Pekan said this is the risk Malaysia faces if it continues to lose coaching talent. "This is not the first time it has happened. We lost K. Dharmaraj to Indonesia and they went on to beat us at the 2023 Sea Games (indoor hockey)," said Pekan. "Ultimately, this is the price we will pay if we do not pay our top local coaches what they deserve. "Our coaches will end up developing talent in other countries and give them the knowledge that they have accumulated over the years. "In the end, these countries will go on to beat us in sports we have traditionally excelled in." The national diving squad have not given fans much to cheer about at the ongoing World Championships in Singapore, which concludes on Sunday (Aug 3). So far, the only positive results have come from Elvis Clement and Enrique Harold who did well to finish seventh in the men's 10m platform synchronised event on Tuesday (Aug 29). It was the best-ever performance from a Malaysian pair in the event. The duo will compete in the men's 10m platform individual event tomorrow (Aug 2). In swimming today (Aug 1), Malaysia's Arvin Singh, Jayden Tan, Khiew Hoe Yean and Andrew Goh placed 16th from as many teams in the men's 200m freestyle relay preliminaries after clocking seven minutes and 29.30 seconds.
New Straits Times
11 hours ago
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Richardson, Lyles ease through 100m heats at US trials
EUGENE: Reigning 100m world champions Sha'Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles cruised through their opening heats at the USA Track and Field trials on Thursday as they build towards the defence of their global titles at September's World Championships. Both Richardson and Lyles have already booked their tickets to Tokyo due to their status as reigning champions, but are using this week's meeting at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, to hone their form. The charismatic Richardson finished ninth at the Prefontaine Classic at Eugene earlier in July in a modest time of 11.19 sec. But the 25-year-old Texan indicated she is making progress after finishing second in her heat in a time of 11.07sec, behind Kayla White in 10.89sec. Richardson's time was the 11th fastest of the opening heats, where Melissa Jefferson-Wooden impressed running 10.86sec into a 1.5m/s headwind. "Felt amazing to run a qualifying, show fitness and take the rest of the time to get ready for Tokyo," said Richardson, adding that she is comfortable competing while knowing that her World Championship berth is assured. "USA is one of the hardest teams to make, so it definitely is a kind of a release of pressure knowing I have a bye," she told AFP. "It feels really good to not have that pressure and still be able to go to Tokyo." Richardson meanwhile is relaxed about the fact she will head to Tokyo with other sprinters likely ahead of her in the betting stakes. "Right now I'm cruising under the radar, but when it's time to hit – it's gonna be a bang where y'all see my name," she said. In the men's 100m, meanwhile, Richardson's fellow world champion Lyles won his heat in 10.05sec, the fifth fastest time of the first round. Lyles told reporters he is using this weekend to get as much racing under his belt as possible, even though he was under no obligation to run given his bye. "I need races – everybody knows I started the season late due to injury," said Lyles, who was beaten in his first 100m of the season at the London Diamond League on July 19. "I just need as many races as possible. After the 100 in London, me and my coach were like 'We might as well (race at trials)'. It's a free race, it's good competition." Lyles, though, said he has seen encouraging signs that he is rounding back to full fitness. "I just need more races – I've got to get the engine firing and get that urgency into my body," Lyles said. "But that was just my second 100 of the year; I can't really be mad at that." Potentially the biggest threat to Lyles on Friday could come in the shape of Kenny Bednarek, the two-time Olympic 200m silver medallist who posted the quickest time of Thursday's heats in 9.95sec. In the women's 800m, Tokyo Olympic champion Athing Mu-Nikolayev qualified for the next round second fastest in 2min 0.06sec. In early field events, Olympic women's long jump champion Tara Davis-Woodhall flirted with disaster before sealing a roller coaster victory to punch her ticket to Tokyo. Davis-Woodhall fouled on her first two jumps but regrouped to rattle off two world-leading leaps in quick succession to win her event. Davis-Woodhall was trailing Claire Bryant through three jumps, with Bryant just ahead after a leap of 6.97m. But Davis-Woodhall moved into first with her fourth jump, a world-leading 7.11m, and then bettered that mark with a jump of 7.12m. --AFP
