Singapore Open: Aaron-Wooi Yik finally beat Hoki-Kobayashi after 4 years

Coming into the second round match against their Japanese bogey opponents, the national men's doubles pair may have been reminded about their recent encounter at the Sudirman Cup earlier this month.

The Malaysians had match points in the second and third game in that tie, but couldn’t convert the final point and lost.

The Malaysia Masters runners-up ensured history did not repeat again, as they turned on the heat in the deciding game to win 21-18, 24-26, 21-12.

This 63-minute victory means Chia-Soh have won three times in 12 meetings against Hoki-Kobayashi.

Before this, the world number three pair last beat their opponents at the 2021 Sudirman Cup.

That victory means Chia-Soh will go to meet Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in a repeat of the Malaysia Masters final.

Man-Tee had beaten Chinese pair Huang Di-Liu Yang 21-16, 21-16.

Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who rose to world number one on Tuesday, beat compatriots Junaidi Arif-Yap Roy King 21-13, 21-11, and the second seeds will go on to face Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the quarter-finals.

It was a good day for the Malaysian contingent at the Singapore Indoor Stadium where Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah also reached the last eight after a gritty 25-23, 21-18 victory over Japan’s Mayu Matsumoto-Yuki Fukushima.