‘Have to Forget the Past and Move On’

In 40 minutes on an August Sunday in Tokyo last year, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik did what none of their predecessors over the course of four decades had done – win World Championships gold.

Since that historic day for Malaysia, Chia and Soh’s form has held – they are currently world No.4 – but they haven’t topped another podium. Can they effect a repeat of what they achieved last year, when they arrived in Tokyo without a World Tour title to their name?

Seeded four, and in the second quarter with the likes of Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin, Liu Yu Chen/Ou Xuan Yi and Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po Han, Chia and Soh speak about approaching the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2023 with confidence in their abilities.

It’s been a year since you won the World Championships. What changed for you after that day?

Chia: Of course, more people got to know about us. And there is some extra pressure on us because everyone is hoping for us to get more results, more titles, after we became world champions.

Soh: More people started recognising us. When we go to the mall or when we go out to eat people come to take photos, so maybe we don’t have that privacy anymore when we go outside. But we are slowly coping with that.

Historic moment: Malaysia’s first World Championships gold.

Over the last year, you went into every tournament as the world champions. Was that a lot of pressure?

Chia: Yeah, I think I can say it’s been a rollercoaster year for us. The next World Championships are coming soon. That’s another thing that we have to focus on because people always mention that we are the defending world champions. So maybe we can grab another one for Malaysia. It’s not easy for us, but we will give it our best.

Since winning the World Championships you haven’t won another title, although you’ve been in a couple of finals. Does that bother you, or do you look at the positive side of having competed in semifinals and finals?

Soh: We are looking at the positive side, because before we became world champions we didn’t have a title either. Me and Aaron have the belief in ourselves, in our heart, that we can still keep going even though we don’t have a title. So after the World Championships we were more motivated to get another title, even though we struggled. We have been in a few finals. It’s a good start, but we are still looking for another title.

Is it a burden of sorts that you are expected to do well every time ever since you won the world title?

Chia: You can’t think of it as a burden; it’s a motivation. The World Championships was actually our second title; the first was the SEA Games. Everyone knows that we haven’t won any World Tour title yet, so we’re still hungry for that. Of course for the next tournament we have to really put more effort.

Looking at the upcoming World Championships, what do you make of your draw?

Soh: I think men’s doubles is always tough. Every opponent is very, very competitive. So for us we have to prepare match by match; it’s not going to be easy as we go in as the defending champions, but we have that belief in ourselves. So we want to go in with confidence and what we prepared for, and we hope to give our best. Hopefully we can defend our title.

Chia: What I can say is that the top 30 pairs have improved a lot. We can see there are a lot of competitors. Every round is difficult. If you’re not seeded, in the first round you will be playing a seeded pair. Everyone is improving and I believe that we are also one of the pairs that has improved.

Have you been working on any specific areas during your preparation for the World Championships?

Soh: We have to prepare really well (in terms of) mentality because the World Championships is a very big tournament. We have to keep calm and we have to forget the past and just move on and (treat it) as a new tournament for us. And we just go and have the hunger to get it.

With the World Championships round the corner, is there something you tell yourself every day?

Chia: I’ve been reminding us to always keep the focus. Always stay patient on what we are doing right now. Don’t think about all those pressures, on court or off court, just focus on what we have to do.

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