PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are one step away from achieving their first World Tour title this year after qualifying for the final of the Denmark Open by defeating the world’s top pair from South Korea.
In what was anticipated to be the clash of the titans, the world No 4 pair surprisingly defeated Kim Won Ho-Seu Seung Jae in straight games of 21-14, 21-18 in 38 minutes at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense today.
They will face either Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri or China's Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang in the final of the World Tour Super 750 championships tomorrow.
Aaron-Wooi Yik and Won Ho-Seung Jae have now won three matches each in their six encounters so far.
The Malaysians, who reunited for this tournament after a brief split to try new combinations, last beat the South Koreans in the semi-final at the World Championships in New Delhi in August.
They are still looking for their first World Tour title this year after finishing as runners-up in three top-tier tournaments – the Malaysia Open, the All England, and the World Championships.
Aaron was also a runner-up at the Taipei Open when he partnered Aaron Tai as part of the Badminton Association of Malaysia's experiment to find the best combinations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The winners in the doubles categories will take home US$70,300 (RM287,048) and the runners-up US$33,250 (RM135,766). The losing semi-finalists will receive US$13,300 (RM54,306).