LOSING in the first round is always a tough pill to swallow but national men’s doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have put the past behind them by reaching the second round of the Japan Open yesterday.
After crashing out early in the Indonesia Open last week, the World No 10 redeemed themselves by clawing back from a game down to see off compatriots Ong Yew Sin-Too Ee Yi 15-21, 21-14, 21-18 in the opening stage in Tokyo.
As the Olympic qualification is already in full gear, Aaron admitted that things are now tougher as other pairs are also pushing hard to qualify for next year’s Tokyo Games.
“We were disappointed when we lost in the first round last week. But we told ourselves to put the past behind us and look ahead,” said Aaron.
“It was a difficult win as we were playing against our training partners.
“It’s the Olympic qualifying period and other pairs are also working equally hard to earn their spots in next year’s Olympics. We just have to keep fighting,” he added.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will face World No 5 Han Cheng Kai-Zhou Hao Dong of China in the second round tomorrow.
“We lost to them in the French Open last year. It won’t be easy but we’re really hoping to beat them here,” he added.
Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani were the other Malaysian men’s doubles to reach the second round following a 21-12, 21-16 win over India’s Manu Attri-B.Sumeeth Reddy.
The national No 3 will take on fifth seeds Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe of Japan next.
In mixed doubles, World No 5 Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying lived up to their billing by notching a 23-21, 21-17 win over China’s He Ji Ting-Du Yue.
The 2016 Rio Olympic Games silver medallists will play France’s Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue tomorrow for a place in the last eight.
It was, however, the end of the road for Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who were shown the exit by sixth seeds Hafiz Faisal-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja of Indonesia 21-9, 21-18.
In women’s doubles, Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean notched a 21-19, 21-11 win over China’s Liu Xuan Xuan-Xia Yu Ting in the first round to set up a second-round clash against World No 1 Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara of Japan.
Vivian Hoo-Yap Cheng Wen fought hard but were still sent packing in the first round by Thailand’s Jongkolphan Kititharakul-Rawinda Prajongjai, who won 21-18, 17-21, 21-18.
The second half of first-round matches will resume today.