PARIS, Aug 1 — National men's doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik face a tough challenge in the knockout stages of the Paris 2024 Olympics later today.
The bronze medallists from Tokyo 2020 have been drawn against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, who defeated them in the semi-finals of last year’s Hangzhou Asian Games.
Despite winning eight of their 11 encounters against the Indian duo, Aaron and Wooi Yik have lost their last three meetings in straight sets.
Should they overcome the fifth-ranked pair, they will likely face another formidable challenge from top seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang of China, who are set to play against Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, men’s singles and host favourite Toma Junior Popov caused a major upset by beating world number nine Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia yesterday, setting up a round of 16 clash with Lee Zii Jia today.
In front of a passionate home crowd, the 25-year-old French player defeated Ginting 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 in a gruelling 87-minute match to advance to the knockout stage.
“(Facing Zii Jia) I will prepare and recover as best as I can, play my game with (the support of) the crowd,” Popov said.
Zii Jia has won all four previous matches against Popov, but the French shuttler has shown significant improvement since their last encounter at the 2021 World Tour Finals.
In the mixed doubles category, national pair Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei's Olympic journey came to a heartbreaking end in the quarter-finals stage.
Despite a valiant effort, the world number nine debutants suffered a 19-21, 14-21 defeat against South Koreans Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun in 41 minutes after Ee Wei sustained an early injury, which ultimately cost them the game.
They struggled in the first set after Ee Wei fell and had to continue the game wearing a back support brace. Despite this, the pair managed to close the gap from 10-16 down to 19-20 before losing the set.
In the second set, the Koreans dominated the game with an 11-1 lead. Although the Malaysians fought back to 11-17, they ultimately fell short.
Commenting on the match, Tang Jie said they were able to handle the pressure going into the court tonight.
“I think we already prepared well, but in court, we lacked game maturity in certain parts of the game to handle the situation.
“Everyone has their pressures, and it was the same for us. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it today. I really appreciate this (Olympics experience),” he said before bursting into tears when asked about what’s next.
With the win, Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun have set up an all-Korean semi-final against compatriots Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung, who earlier ousted Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet 21-15, 21-10 in 38 minutes.
— Bernama
