KUALA LUMPUR: Men's pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik showed great sportsmanship by not focusing their attack on a hobbling and injured Ren Xiang Yu of China at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou today.
Xiang Yu, partnering He Ji Ting, as struggled with mobility in the third game and appeared to have a back injury. Aaron-Wooi Yik didn't want to prolong the game and increased the pace to end it fast.
The Malaysian pair won 17-21, 21-18, 21-15 in a 63-minute Group A match.
Coincidentally, Xiang Yu also injured his back during the China Open final in September against Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani. The Malaysian duo also spared a struggling Xiang Yu then by not attacking him. Now it's Aaron-Wooi Yik's turn to do so.
The match today was expected to be explosive as world No. 6 Xiang Yu-Ji Ting had beaten world No. 5 Aaron-Wooi Yik in the China Masters quarter-finals last month.
And it started in that way as the Chinese pair were firing from all cylinders before Xiang Yu started slowing down in the third game.
"Honestly, we were not in our best form but we were lucky to escape due to Xiang Yu's injury. We just wanted to finish the game fast and hope he recovers soon.
"We wanted to win the match, but at the same time we didn't want to cause him a more serious injury," said Aaron.
Wooi Yik added: "We didn't want to do things like flick service as we could feel that he was slowing down. So, we just increased the pace and forced them to commit errors. This would end the match and spare him the agony," said Wooi Yik.
In another Group A match, Indonesia's Fajar Afian-Rian Ardianto beat compatriots Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi 28-26, 21-16.
Meanwhile, world No. 7 Sze Fei-Izzudddin began their WTF debut on a losing note, going down 21-18, 16-21, 21-14 to Denmark's world No. 3 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in 74 minutes in a Group A match.
The Malaysians must beat Taiwan's world No. 10 Lee Jhe Huei-Yan Po Hsuan tomorrow to stay alive. Jhe Huei-Po Hsuan lost 16-21, 21-16, 21-18 to two-time Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin in an all-Taiwan clash today.