Hopes of a medal finish for Malaysia in the men’s doubles event at the World Badminton Championships in Paris were dashed when the two remaining pairs crashed out early this morning.
World No 2 pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and No 7 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun failed to enter the semi-finals after losing to an Indian and South Korean pair, respectively.
With this, women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M Thinaah and mixed doubles duo Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei will be the only Malaysian shuttlers playing in the semi-finals at the Adidas Arena today. Both pairs have been assured of at least a bronze medal.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun, who have had a fine run at their maiden World Championships, put up a spirited display against South Korea‘s world No 1 pair Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae before losing 21-23, 23-21, 15-21 in their quarter-final match.
The Malaysians saved two match points in the second game to force a decider but, in the end, the ability of the Koreans to return impossible shots proved to be the decisive factor in their win.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who won the title in 2022 and a bronze medal a year later, were beaten by India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in straight games.
The second seeds fell 12-21, 19-21 in a surprise loss after having beaten the Indians 11 times in their 14 previous encounters. Aaron-Wooi Yik had also prevailed in both their clashes this year at the Singapore and China Opens.
In the mixed doubles semi-finals scheduled for this evening, world No 4 pair Tang Jie-Ee Wei will meet France’s Delphine Delrue-Thom Gicquel, who are ranked No 8.
In the women’s doubles clash, world No 2 Pearly-Thinaah will take on Japan’s 3rd ranked pair Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida.
This tournament does not offer any prize money, but gold, silver and bronze medals. It is, however, known for its prestige and offers the highest points of any BWF tournament for players to amass in their bid to qualify for the World Tour finals in December
The winners receive 14,500 points and the runners-up 12,500. Semi-finalists are awarded 10,500, quarter-finalists 8,200 and those qualifying for the last 16 get 6,000 points.
