02-06-2025
Aaron-Soh enter fray in Indonesia with tired bodies but willing minds
PETALING JAYA: The body is tired but Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are not worn to a frazzle yet.
In fact, it will be all about mind over matter when the former world champions get into action in their fourth tournament in a month in the Indonesian Open starting today at Istora Senayan in Jakarta.
'We are feeling the effects of playing in three tournaments in a row, the body is tired but our job is far from over,' said Aaron.
'We want to stay focused on the Indonesian Open first and then, we can have a short break.'
Aaron-Wooi Yik have been on their toes since last month but they are not complaining as they have done extremely well to reach the finals of three straight tournaments.
On Sunday, the reigning Asian champions stood solid to beat tough opponents and All-England champions Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae of South Korea to lift the Singapore Open title.
They had earlier won the Thailand Open two weeks ago and finished runners-up to teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the Malaysian Masters last week.
They hope to keep the momentum going when they take on Denmark's Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard in the first round today and go after the US$107,300 set aside for the champions.
The world No. 3 Aaron-Wooi Yik have a 3-1 record against the Danes and should progress to face the winners of the match between Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana of Indonesia and India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
Added Aaron: 'Our coach (Herry Iman Pierngadi) has told us to be confident and believe in ourselves, and it's all falling into place.
''The goal is to continue to be consistent and trust each other.'
The draw, however, is not so favourable for the Malaysians as four other pairs are lumped into the same half with Aaron-Wooi Yik and they are top seeds Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Wei Chong-Kai Wun, Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong and Wan Junaidi Wan Arif-Yap Roy King.
In the second half with second seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Anderson of Denmark are Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi.
Malaysia have not won the men's doubles title in the Super 1000 since Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif won in 2008.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, however, pulled off a surprise by winning the lower-tier Indonesian Masters in January.
Meanwhile, national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky was all smiles that things were falling into place in his department.
'There is a healthy environment in the national training set-up right now with both singles and doubles working together as a unit,' said Rexy, who engineered the move to bring his mentor and coach Herry Iman Pierngadi to Malaysia this year. 'The BAM management are giving full support and we are benefiting from the services provided by sports science experts from NSI (National Sports Insitute) and NSC (National Sports Council).
'All these enable us to work in a solid way. I'm so grateful to see these positive changes and results too from our players.''
