Badminton's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik: From underdogs to Malaysia's top men's doubles pair

Malaysia won its first-ever Olympic medal at the Barcelona 1992 Games courtesy of badminton men's doubles pair Razif and Jalani Sidek. It was the first time the sport offered a medal in the Olympic programme and the Malaysian brothers etched their names in history.

Since then the nation has won eleven medals at the Games, seven silver and four bronze but is still waiting for its maiden gold medal.

Badminton men's doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who are on course to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Games in 2021, shared exclusively with Olympics.com how they are aiming to leave a mark at the Olympic Games.

Taking steps towards their target

To date, Malaysian badminton players have made the Olympic finals six times, including Lee Chong Wei triple-feat in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

However none have been successful in making to the top step of the podium. Both Chia and Soh are well aware of this and intend to take things one step at a time.

"First, we have to qualify for the Olympic Games. Second, maybe we have to achieve a medal. And the third target is to achieve the gold medal" shares 24-year-old Chia, adding, "the most important thing is the three targets, we have to go step-by-step."

Badminton runs in the blood

While Chia and Soh may be making their Olympic debut, Soh comes from a family of players who he can lean on for guidance and insight.

His father, Soh Goon Chup, and uncle, Soo Beng Kiang, both played men's doubles for the country with Soo helping Malaysia lift the coveted Thomas Cup in 1992.

Soh admits that his uncle follows his matches closely and will often message him advice and encouragement ahead of a big game.

Even at the peak of his career, Soh only managed to reach the semi-finals of the Olympics in 1996 and has not progressed further than the semis at the All England either.

So when Soh and Chia made the All England Open final in 2019, it meant a lot to the 23-year-old and his family. "[It] made them very proud. It's given me confidence, I'm sure of myself and I believe in myself more."

The burden of being number one

In a country where expectations to succeed are high, the youngsters have to shoulder the responsibility that comes with being the nation's top doubles pair.

Their predecessors, Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong, made the finals at the last edition of the Games, but the senior pair have fallen short of making the cut, and they weren't helped by the unpredictable and disrupted qualifying period due to the global pandemic.

Even so, Chia and Soh have won two of the three encounters against their seniors and have proven that they are able to take the fight to the best players in the world.

Soh and Chia's rise up the rankings has helped them build in confidence, and has helped them develop as a pair as Soh shares, "We have learnt a lot from this journey to the national number one. And we need to handle the pressure as the national number one."