German Open: ABM had expected Aaron-Wooi Yik to do better

Several hours after Lee Zii Jia crashed out of the men’s singles as the top seed, the national men’s doubles pair also followed him out the exit door after a straight game 13-21, 18-21 defeat against Japanese duo Akira Sato-Taichi Saito.

It was a big setback for the world champions, who had a favourable tie at least until the semi-finals as top seeds.

“I am waiting to hear from the coaching team in Germany on our men’s doubles pair. The expectation on them was much higher so we’ll need to look into it. Their result was poor, but it won’t have a major effect on next week [All-England].

“They showed earlier they can bounce back to reach the India Open final after an under-target performance at the Malaysia Open,” ABM high-performance director Dr. Tim Jones told Stadium Astro.

Chia-Soh’s defeat in Mulheim certainly raised concerns ahead of the All-England next week where they are seeded second.

The Malaysians will not have an easy task in Birmingham, as they are pitted against Indonesians Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin.

All in all, the ongoing German Open was one to forget for the Malaysian men’s doubles pairings.

Besides Chia-Soh, fifth seeds Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Tan Kian Meng-Tan Wee Kiong had all crashed out of the competition on Thursday.

Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, meanwhile, were forced to withdraw from the competition after Man suffered an ankle injury.