KUALA LUMPUR — Despite falling short in the China Open final today, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik are determined to move forward and channel their focus into the World Championships in Paris next month.
The world No. 2 men’s doubles pair, who lost in straight games 21-15, 21-14 to Indonesia’s scratch combination Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri are not intending to dwell on the defeat, choosing instead to view the tournament as part of their steady progress this season, under legendary doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi.
“Our goal now is Paris,” said Wooi Yik.
“We’ll rest, recover, and then focus on preparing well for the World Championships. Of course, the gold medal is the dream — but for now, it’s about going match by match.”
Aaron added, “We know expectations are high, and not just recently. It’s been this way for years. We just need to trust in our game and keep the rhythm going into Paris.”
While it’s best to move on, Aaron and Wooi Yik will rue their chances today as it was a record sixth Super 1000 final appearance — and another near miss.
To add salt to wound, Fajar and Shohibul, playing in just their second outing together, outplayed the Malaysians with fast, sharp exchanges and superb control.
“We had a plan, but they caught us off guard,” said Aaron.
“They played much shorter than we expected and controlled the shuttle really well, especially in the front and first three shots.”
Wooi Yik added: “Scratch pairs like this are always tricky because you don’t have much to study about their game.”
Fajar and Shohibul had already stunned world No. 1s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae of South Korea and China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang en route to the final.
Fortunately for Malaysia, the Indonesian duo will not feature in the World Championships, giving Aaron and Wooi Yik one less obstacle to worry about.
The loss means Malaysia’s wait for another China Open men’s doubles champion continues. Only Jalani Sidek and Razif Sidek (1989) and Goh Sze Fei–Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (2024) have won the title previously.
Fajar and Shohibul pocketed US$148,000 (RM625,000) in prize money, while Aaron and Wooi Yik settled for US$70,000 (RM300,000). — July 27, 2025