KUALA LUMPUR: Men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik went down 21-18, 18-21, 20-22 to China’s Liu Yu Chen and Ou Xuan Yi in their second Group A match today to leave their hopes of advancing in the BWF World Tour Finals hanging by a thread.
This was the world No 3’s second defeat in Group A, having lost 16-21, 21-14, 18-21 to Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi yesterday.
In today’s match against Yu Chen-Xuan Yi, the Malaysians did well to take the first game 21-18 and even led briefly in the second before succumbing 18-21 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre.
Both pairs fought neck-and-neck in the decider before Yu Chen-Xuan Yi clinched victory – their third over Aaron-Wooi Yik in six meetings.
The national pair face a tough hurdle in their final group match tomorrow as they will have to beat China’s world No 1 pair of Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chan to stand a chance of making the semifinals.
Only the top two pairs from each group will advance to the last four.