Asian Games 2023: Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik exclusive: Olympics are our priority, not world number one ranking
Malaysia’s 2022 men’s doubles world champions talk about being role models in a badminton-mad nation, and working towards Paris 2024
Badminton
As world-class shuttlers in Malaysia, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were already public figures when they claimed men’s doubles bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
But when the pair won their country’s first ever global badminton title at the 2022 World Championships, also in Tokyo, they became national heroes.
Chia and Soh have failed to win a title so far in 2023, but they did put up a spirited defence of their world crown in Copenhagen.
The duo made it to the semi-finals in the Danish capital, but had to settle for bronze after going down to Republic of Korea’s eventual champions Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae.
They are aiming for another medal at the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou.
Speaking exclusively to Olympics.com, Chia said that he and Soh rarely speak about what they want to achieve at tournaments.
“Of course, we have our own target... but we don’t really put too much pressure on it. We just focus more on ourselves.” - Aaron Chia
Being badminton role models in Malaysia
Chia and Soh claimed their first title of note at the 2019 SEA Games in the Philippines.
And their world title triumph last August was something of a shock given they had not reached a BWF World Tour final that season. Even now, they are yet to win a BWF World Tour title.
As Soh recalls, “I think last year was a wonderful journey for us. Before the World Championships, we struggled a lot but we slowly gained confidence match by match. And slowly we built up our games with experience.”
Soh says they have made "progress" in 2023 having reached three BWF World Tour finals as well as collecting that world bronze.
As Lee Chong Wei and Lee Zii Jia can testify, being a badminton star in Malaysia attracts huge expectation and public scrutiny.
Chia says he and Soh use that as motivation, admitting, “The pressure has been there since we became national number ones. And now the pressure will be more and more. You have to know how to handle it.”
As well as pressure comes the status of role models, something the duo are keen to live up to.
“I think it’s quite important for us. Everyone is looking at us as role models for all those youngsters, ” said Chia. “We have to show everyone that we are deserving of respect and deserve to be role models.”
Soh added, “I hope those kids love badminton by watching us. They can enjoy watching us and learn a lot from us too.
"We want to show the youngsters the desire to become like us - world champions - or Olympic champions. So we try our best to show how capable we are.”
"The ranking is just a number for us."
If Chia and Soh were able to clinch that elusive BWF World Tour title, then reaching the world number one spot would become a distinct possiblilty.
But it’s not something that unduly bothers the pair currently hovering on the edge of the top five.
When asked about topping the world rankings, Soh replied, “I think it’s a process that we sort of... our highest ranking is second (achieved in January 2023). It’s not easy because we need to at least reach the same finals to maintain the ranking.
“This is a new situation for us, but we still believe in the process and we are working really hard. I think the ranking is just a number for us. Our main goal is the Olympics.”
As long as they remain in the top eight, they should earn the chance to improve on their bronze from Tokyo with fellow Malaysians Ong Yew Sin and Ou Xuan Yi also hopeful of making Paris 2024.
And were they to win Malaysia’s long-awaited first Olympic gold in the French capital, one can only imagine the reaction back home.