It is back to the drawing board for national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik after their tame loss in the China Open final.
Chia-Soh suffered a 12-21, 14-21 loss against home pair Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in a poor showing that was riddled with numerous unforced errors.
The defeat spelled a second loss to the Chinese pair in a final this year, after the India Open final.
After that, the former world champions had also lost at the Indonesia Open final in June to India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty.
“It was our own unforced errors and mistakes. We beat ourselves through our own mistakes, and we also had to play against the whole stadium which worked in their favour,” lamented Chia.
Soh, on his social media, apologized to Malaysians for the loss and admitted he was nursing a high fever the night before the final.
“I tried to give my best, but my condition was worse and I felt helpless on court,” he said.
While the world number six pair can wallow in the misfortune of missing out on another World Tour title, they must pick themselves quickly ahead of a tricky test at the Hong Kong Open.
Chia-Soh, who are seeded second, take on compatriots Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin in the first round.
In the men’s singles, both Lee Zii Jia and Ng Tze Yong have tough opening round assignments.
Lee is up against China’s Zhao Jun Peng and, should he win, will face China Open champion Viktor Axelsen in the second round.
Ng, meanwhile, has a first-round meeting against seventh seed Chou Tien-chen.
This Super 500 event is the final event on the World Tour before the rescheduled Asian Games takes place in Hangzhou, China (September 23-October 8).
