KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s 18-year wait for a men’s doubles title at the All-England look set to continue after top contenders Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi suffered first round exits.
Aaron, still struggling with a right hand injury, gave his best alongside Wooi Yik but lost 16-21, 21-16, 18-21 to Denmark’s Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard in 64 minutes in Birmingham.
The duo had beaten them in the first round of the Malaysian Open last year but the Danish duo have since improved significantly.
Aaron-Wooi Yik also lost in the first round to China’s Sun Wenjun-Zhu Yijun in the Orleans Masters last week.
It was also a disappointing outing for Yew Sin-Ee Yi after they bowed out 18-21, 19-21 to England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy.
Former 2007 champion Koo Kien Keat, now England’s new coach, was in Lane-Vendy’s corner, guiding them to victory over the Malaysians.
“I think they did well, especially in the final moments, but I also made some mistakes at crucial points,” said Ee Yi, who was a little emotional after the match.
“Maybe I put too much pressure on myself, or maybe we were too focused on going for the smash. But overall, we need to discuss this match with our coaches.”
Earlier, debutants Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King had also lost 18-21, 21-16, 17-21 to China’s Huang Di-Liu Yang.
The pairs remaining in the tournament are second seeds Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong.
There was more disappointment in mixed doubles as Tan Kian Meng saw his All-England campaign end in the first round.
Paired with Lai Pei Jing, he fell 18-21, 20-22 to Taiwan’s Chen Cheng-kuan-Hsu Yin-hui in what was his final match before retiring from professional badminton.
