KUALA LUMPUR: The Korea Masters may be just a Super 300 event, but Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik's victory in Iksan City today is a timely morale booster as they chase a spot in the season-ending World Tour Finals (WTF).
The world No. 6 pair staged a comeback after a first-game blemish, defeating South Korea's Jin Yong-Kim Won Ho 21-23, 21-19, 21-14 in a hard-fought 66-minute final to claim their first World Tour title this year.
Jin Yong-Kim Won Ho, a new Korean combination, applied intense pressure and clinched the opening game, but Aaron-Wooi Yik displayed nerves of steel to turn the match around and secure the victory.
After being sidelined from four World Tour events due to Wooi Yik's toe surgery following their bronze-medal success at the Paris Olympics in August, the Malaysian pair needed a spark to bounce back on the tour.
Aaron-Wooi Yik returned to action last month but suffered early exits in the Arctic Open and Denmark Open.
Aaron said their decision to play an additional tournament in Korea had paid off.
"We're happy to slowly regain our form after Wooi Yik's surgery. This is a good win for us," said Aaron.
"It was a tough event, but everything went well. We'll keep giving our best in the remaining tournaments."
Today's victory marks their second World Tour title, following last year's Denmark Open.
The duo now head to the Super 500 Kumamoto Masters, which starts Tuesday, followed by the Super 750 China Masters on Nov 19-24, where they must perform well to secure their place at the WTF in Hangzhou on Dec 11-15.
Their Korea Masters victory has earned them 7,000 points, bringing their World Tour ranking tally to 63,090 points, tying them for ninth with Indonesia's Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi.
Only the top seven pairs after the China Open will join two-time Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan at the WTF.
RESULTS
(All finals)
Men's singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Wang Zheng Xing (Chn) 21-18, 21-18;
Doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (Mas) bt Jin Yong-Kim Won Ho (Kor) 21-23, 21-19, 21-14;
Women's singles: Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Han Qian Xi (Chn) 21-14, 21-14;
Doubles: Kim Hye Jeong-Kong Hee Yong (Kor) bt Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min (Chn) 21-14, 16-21, 21-18;
Mixed doubles: Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui (Chn) bt Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) 21-10, 21-12.