KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 4 men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik admitted they were still struggling to regain momentum after opening their Denmark Open title defence with a hard-fought win against Japan's Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura on Tuesday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik pulled off a sensational comeback from 17-12 down, saving four game points in the opening game en route to claiming a 28-26, 21-11 victory over their world No. 19 opponents at Jyske Bank Arena.
The Super 750 tournament marked only the second competition for Aaron-Wooi Yik since winning their second bronze medal at the Paris Olympics in August. Wooi Yik had missed four East Asian Opens - Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and China - due to a toe injury.
The pair made their return last week at the Arctic Open in Finland, reaching only the last 16 before being knocked out by England's Sean Vendy-Ben Lane.
Aaron acknowledged they had to work hard to overcome their rustiness.
"It's been too long being away from competition, it's not easy. This is only our second tournament in two months," he said.
"We've been training a lot, but tournament play is different altogether. We need to adapt quickly if we want to get a good result here."
Last year's Denmark Open victory was Aaron-Wooi Yik's first-ever World Tour title after years of attempts. It's crucial for them to perform well this week to defend their ranking points and avoid slipping in the world standings.
The duo are expected to face teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the last 16. World No. 15 Wei Chong-Kai Wun are favoured to win their match against England's Callum Hemming-Ethan Van Leeuwen later today.
In mixed doubles, the husband-wife team of Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie finally ran out of steam following their recent fine run.
They were on the brink of victory against French pair Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue before the latter clawed back from 19-14 down in the second game to win 9-21, 24-22, 21-10.
Soon Huat-Shevon had impressed recently, finishing as runners-up at the China Open and reaching the semi-finals of the Arctic Open last week.