Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik face an uphill mission to qualify from the World Tour Finals (WTF) group stage for the first time after the national men’s doubles pair lost their opening game against Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi.
The Malaysians succumbed 16-21, 21-14, 18-21 after a 63-minute Group A clash at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium on Wednesday that will leave the pair rueing their mistakes.
Advertisement
The first game belonged to the Japanese combination who led for majority of the match, and while Chia-Soh did well to stay close to their opponents, their unforced errors paved the way for Hoki-Kobayashi to take the lead.
Chia-Soh fared much better in the second game to level the tie, but could not maintain the same momentum and lost, placing themselves in a difficult position to make it to the semi-finals.
In order to revive their chances, Chia-Soh must now beat world number eight pair Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi Chang in a do-or-die battle on Thursday.
Liu-Ou currently top their group standings after they beat world number one duo Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang 21-18, 16-21, 21-16.
Other results saw South Korea’s world number one An Se-young beaten in straight games 18-21, 18-21 by compatriot Kim Ga-eun.
