KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 — Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik put on a show of speed, power and agility to brush aside China’s Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi and storm into the men’s doubles final of the All England Badminton Championships in Birmingham.
It was a rip-roaring victory for the world number two Malaysians as they pummelled the world number 11 pair for a 21-11, 21-19 win in 41 minutes to check into the All England final for the third time, a step closer to ending the country’s 19-year wait for the title.
The first game saw Aaron-Wooi Yik and Bo Yang-Liu Yi go toe-to-toe in a thrilling display of attacking badminton to be tied at 7-all, before the Malaysians reeled off five straight points to go 13-7 ahead.
Aaron-Wooi Yik then turned on the power to romp home 21-11 in just 15 minutes.
The second game saw Aaron-Wooi Yik’s game littered with errors, allowing Bo Yang-Liu Yi to pull away for an 18-13 lead.
With their backs against the wall, the second-seeded Aaron-Wooi Yik exploded to life, as they again reeled off five straight points to level the score at 18-18.
Although Bo Yang-Liu Yi managed to nudge 19-18 ahead, that was as good as it got for them, as the Malaysians clinched the next three points for a convincing victory.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will be hoping to be third time lucky after finishing as runners-up on two occasions, losing to Indonesians Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan in 2019 and Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in 2024.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will meet the winners of the other semi-final clash between top seeds Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea and Raymond Indra-Nikolaus Joaquin of Indonesia.
For the record, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong were the last Malaysians to win the men’s doubles title at the All England, the world’s oldest badminton tournament, in 2007.
Meanwhile, national women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-Thinaah Muralitharan's campaign in the All England Badminton Championships came to an end in the semi-finals after losing to South Korea’s Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee last night.
The world number two Malaysians went down 17-21, 18-21 in 68 minutes at the Utilita Arena Birmingham.
This is the Malaysian pair’s fourth defeat to the South Koreans in seven encounters since 2022.
