Sydney: Malaysia’s World No. 11 men’s pair Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik are hoping to ride on their strong momentum at the Sudirman Cup that was held in Nanning, China two weeks ago, hoping to produce good performance at the Australian Open that kicked off on Tuesday.
Soh agreed that they are both in good shape are ready to play good badminton in Sydney.
“We have a week preparing for the Australian Open after a return home from Nanning, China. Our fitness level is still pretty good,” said Soh.
Soh also stressed that they’re satisfied with their performance thus far, including playing against World Champions Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen at the Sudirman Cup.
“Playing against some of the best in the world could help us improve our experience and learn how to control our emotions inside the court,” added Soh.
“What makes us happy is that our coach (Paulus Firman) does not pressure us.”
“However, he always advised us to continue learning and improving ourselves,” said Soh.
Since being paired together in 2017, the pair has yet to win an international title with their best achievements were to reach the finals in five different tournaments. That included the surprise All England final appearance in March before losing to former world champions Mohamad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan.
They will open their Australian Open challenge against Taiwan’s eighth seeded Liao Min Chun/Su Ching Heng on Wednesday and could earn a chance to face Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen once again should they able to make it to the semi-finals.
“Our initial goal is to advance to the quarter-finals, but we are going to take it one game at a time,” explained Soh.
