PARIS, July 27 — Reigning men’s doubles bronze medalists Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, boosted by strong cheers from the spectators, managed to overcome an early setback in the Paris 2024 Olympics against Ben Lane-Sean Vendy of Great Britain in their Group A match today.
The world number four pair Chia-Soh had to come back from a set down to beat the world number 18 English pair 19-21, 21-16, 21-11 at the fully packed Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
However, Soh said they managed to secure the hard-fought victory by staying together and lifting each other in the 72-minute battle.
“Quite a struggle in the first game; in the last meeting, they managed a win, so there were tense moments. We tried at each point, trying not to give easy points to them. From there, we bucked up and motivated each other for the victory.
“The strong support from the fans provided an added motivation to us when we were trailing. We went to Tokyo as underdogs and managed to beat a few favourites; we wanted to keep that same label here,” he said after the match.
Chia-Soh have won four of its five previous matches against Lane-Vendy but lost their last meeting at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
After winning the Tokyo 2020 Olympics bronze, they bagged the 2022 World Championship title, also in Tokyo, to be considered among the favourites to end the country’s first gold medal in the Olympics.
Sharing the same sentiment with Soh, Chia admitted that huge expectations do come with pressure for them.
“The pressure is always there, I feel that is normal but we have to be calm and composed and play our normal game, underdog, and enjoy the game,” he said.
Chia added that they always consulted the Badminton Association of Malaysia psychologist Frederick Tan on handling pressure.
Tomorrow, Chia-Soh will next take on Canadians Adam Dong-Nyl Yakura, who were thrashed 5-21, 12-21 by top seeds Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China, and a win will ensure the duo's ticket to the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, in the women’s doubles, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were unable to sustain the prowess of China’s world number one pair, Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan, losing 17-21, 20-22 in 55 minutes despite fighting hard in a Group A match.
It was their seventh defeat in eight encounters against the mighty Chinese pair.
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games champions must win their remaining matches against Japan’s world number six Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara tomorrow and world number nine Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia to secure their place in the last eight.
— Bernama
[caption id="attachment_365783" align="aligncenter" width="935"]
(from left to right) National badminton and women's doubles athletes Pearly Tan and M. Thinaah in action during their match against China's Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan, as part of the Group A match of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris, France, on July 27, 2023. — Picture via FACEBOOK/BADMINTON ASSOCIATION OF MALAYSIA - BAM[/caption]
