Chia (left) and Soh react after a point in their men’s doubles badminton semi-final match against China’s Liu Yuchen and Li Junhui during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza in Tokyo on July 30, 2021. – AFP photo
TOKYO (July 30): National men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik believe their failure to win the opening game resulted in them having to play second fiddle to China’s Li Jun Hui-Liu Yu Chen in the semi-finals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics today.
The Malaysians, ranked number nine in the world, described their first-game defeat as the turning point of the match, with the Chinese pair then majestically romping home to a 24-22, 21-13 win at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza here.
“In the first game, we were in the lead most of the time. But we flopped at the crucial points. That first-game defeat affected us.
“In the second game, we tried to change our strategy but our opponents kept attacking us. We tried to get points on board, but they were simply playing way better,” said Chia, adding that they are both disappointed with the loss.
Meanwhile, Soh said they need to stay positive ahead of Saturday’s (July 31) bronze-medal playoff against Indonesians Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
This will be another tricky task as the Malaysians had lost 16-21, 19-21 to the Indonesians in the group stage.
However, Soh is confident they can put up a good performance and bag the bronze medal.
“We need to be more confident when taking on the Indonesian pair because they are experienced. During our group match, we lost narrowly to them, so I’m hoping we can do our best tomorrow (Saturday),” said Soh. – Bernama