Burnout: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are not only physically drained but may also be mentally fatigued.
PETALING JAYA: There may be a blessing in disguise for world No. 2 men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who had to end their European campaign on a disappointing note at the Hylo Open in Germany.
Their 21-11, 14-21, 17-21 defeat to Indonesia’s Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza in the quarter-finals in Saarbrucken on Friday marked the end of their four-week European stint.
Having competed in back-to-back tournaments, Aaron-Wooi Yik are not only physically drained but may also be mentally fatigued, especially after being among several national players targeted by online abuse from irresponsible parties on social media.
The situation escalated to the point that the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) had to step in to address the issue and protect their players from such attacks.
To be fair, their performances over the past month were far from poor.
Although they missed out on a title, Aaron-Wooi Yik still finished runners-up at the Arctic Open.
They fell early at the Denmark Open but redeemed themselves by reaching the quarter-finals of both the French Open and the Hylo Open.
The pair will now return to Kuala Lumpur for a well-deserved break after confirming their withdrawal from the Kumamoto Masters (Nov 11–16) and the Australian Open (Nov 18–23) in Sydney.
It is seen as a timely decision to regroup and refocus ahead of several major tournaments at the end of the year, including the Thailand SEA Games and the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou this December.
They will also be counted on to deliver a gold medal at the biennial Games, while aiming to finally break their jinx of falling short at the group stage of the World Tour Finals after several early exits in the past.
