SEPANG: Men's badminton pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who did not achieve their gold target in the Paris Olympics but won bronze instead, aims to finish at the very top of the podium in 2028 Los Angeles.
But to do so, the former world champions said they will have to start preparation really early.
Aaron and Wook Yik returned to Kuala Lumpur this morning from the Olympics. They beat Denmark's world No. 2 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen last week in Paris for third placing. They also won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Aaron-Wooi Yik missed the chance to play off for gold after losing to China's top seeds Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in the semi-final.
Aaron said although the 2028 Olympics are still four years away, an early preparation will go a long way in helping them win gold.
The Melaka-born Aaron thanked the fans who came to Paris to
support them, and also those in Malaysia, as well as the Road To Gold programme team, the BAM, their teammates, family members, and everyone who has always been behind them.
"We still have plenty of space to improve, we need to prepare well if we want to fight in 2028 LA. We need to take care of our health as well," said the 27-year-old Aaron after arriving at KLIA today.
"We learned a lot from the Olympics, we got our second bronze in our second Olympics. This is special for us... we came back from difficult situations and finally got the bronze."
Wooi Yik said they did their best but the Chinese pair got their tactics right against them in the semi-final.
He said that playing in the Covid-19 impacted the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics had its difference.
"Everyone was going for the gold medal in Paris and we, too. It's quite tough actually and competitive. Everyone analysed us and we analysed others too.
"The semi-final was crucial, China had better strategy against us, no doubt they are still the best.
"I think we did our part, we gave our all, whatever we learnt from training, it came out.
"There were no supporters at the Tokyo Olympics. We could feel the pressure and the support when we entered the stadium in Paris. We are happy that we managed to overcome it. We didn't get the gold medal but managed to win the bronze."
Aaron said he will have a short break with his family before shifting his focus to the Japan Open from Aug 20-25 and Korean Open from Aug 27-Sept 1.
Wooi Yik said it's finally time to reconnect with his family after being away for almost a month for the Paris Olympics.
"It's back to the job after a few days break because we need to focus on the Japan and Korea Opens."