PETALING JAYA: Motivational words from coach Herry Iman Pierngadi helped fire men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to the Asian Championships title.
World No. 6 Aaron-Wooi Yik suffered a disappointing first-round exit in the All-England but superbly turned around their form to end Malaysia’s 18-year wait for the Asian crown by beating world No. 16 homesters Chen Boyang-Liu Yi 21-19, 21-17 in Ningbo, China on Sunday (April 13).
Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah were the last Malaysians to win the title in 2007.
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The victory was also Indonesian legend Herry’s first success since replacing Tan Bin Shen as men’s doubles head coach in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in February.
“First of all, I want to thank BAM for trusting me to guide the Malaysian men’s doubles pairs,” said Herry.
“We failed in the All-England as Aaron was hampered by a shoulder injury.
“After that, he went through rehab, and I also gave him and Wooi Yik some motivation.
“I told them to forget about the past and let’s try again, focus and prepare for the Asian meet.”
On the match against Boyang-Liu Yi, Herry said: “In the first game, Aaron-Wooi Yik implemented the strategy that we came up with well.
“Although it was neck-and-neck, the game went as planned. The second game was just as important, and the Chinese pair changed their style of play.
“Aaron and Wooi Yik were following their opponents’ game. Our pair trailed 8-11 and I told them to play the way they did during training (and it worked).”
