Aaron-Soh’s early exit shows demanding schedule taking its toll

Aaron-Soh’s early exit shows demanding schedule taking its toll

PETALING JAYA: The first-round exit of world No. 2 men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik at the Indonesian Masters yesterday may be a bitter pill to swallow, but it underlined the toll of a demanding competition schedule.

Their match at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta yesterday marked their third tournament in three weeks after Aaron-Wooi Yik pushed themselves all the way to the final of the Malaysian Open, followed by a semi-final appearance at the Indian Open in New Delhi last week.

Two weeks before the new BWF World Tour season began, they were already in action at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou, just days after competing at the Thailand SEA Games.

As such, fatigue had clearly begun to take its toll on Aaron-Wooi Yik when they went down to Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard 22-20, 19-21, 16-21 after a gruelling 63-minute battle.

With the defeat, Aaron-Wooi Yik can now return home not only to get some much needed rest, but also to refocus their preparations ahead of the European Tour, which begins at the German Open in late February before the prestigious All-England in March.

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As such, it may be time for the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to honour their commitment to limit elite players to selected tournaments only, so as to ease the burden of a congested schedule and prevent excessive fatigue that could ultimately lead to injuries.

The absence of top seeds Aaron-Wooi Yik has left Malaysia’s men’s doubles hopes resting on several other pairs who came through their respective opening round matches yesterday.

Fourth seeds Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will face either Singapore’s Wesley Koh-Junsuke Kubo or Taiwan’s Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han in the second round tomorrow. They advanced after defeating the United States pair of Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith 21-15, 21-17 in a 31-minute first round encounter yesterday.

Veteran pair Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong also impressed after seeing off Lee Fang-chih-Lee Fan-Jen 21-13, 21-18 and will next take on the host nation’s Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza.

The fifth seeds secured their place after overcoming another Malaysian pair, Chia Weijie-Lwi Sheng Hao 18-21, 21-19, 10-21.