NATIONAL men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik’s Olympic dream of a gold medal was shattered by world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China in a thrilling semi-final at the Adidas Arena in Port dela Chapelle today.
They were defeated 19-21, 21-15, 17-21 in 72 minutes, a match which they could have won but just could not secure the crucial points towards the end. This was their second defeat to the Chinese pair in the Paris Olympics, having done down 22-24, 14-21 in their group match.
With this loss, Aaron-Soh will now focus on competing against Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarop Rasmussen of Denmark for the bronze medal. The Danish pair lost to defending Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei, in the other semi-final 18-21, 21-17, 21-10. Aaron-Soh were eyeing the Olympic gold to add to the world title won in 2022 in Tokyo.
Malaysian fans were hoping they would bring some cheer following the women’s doubles semi-final defeat of Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah to Chinese world No. 1 Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan in 12-21, 21-18, 15-21.
“It’s frustrating to see them losing after playing their hearts out. There is no shame in defeat from both our women’s and men’s doubles pairs. They just lost the last mile, the crucial points,” said Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, the president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia as well as the president of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, in a phone interview from Paris.
Had Aaron-Soh won, they would have emulated the feat of Yap Kim Hock-Cheah Soon Kit, who qualified for the men’s doubles final in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only to lose to Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subaja of Indonesia 15-5, 13-15, 12-15.
Rexy, now the Malaysian coaching director, and doubles coach Tan Bin Sheen tried their best to encourage Aaron-Soh, the bronze medallists at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, during the pep talks. However, it was not just their day as the Chinese pair was able to win by the skin of their teeth.
Malaysia’s hopes now rest on men’s singles player Lee Zii Jia, who is down to play Anders Antonsen of Denmark, in the quarter-finals.
Story by K.H. Ong