PETALING JAYA: Newly paired men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia and Aaron Tai continued their remarkable run by reaching the Taipei Open final in only their second tournament together.
The senior-junior combination showed they are a partnership to watch out for after defeating home pair Chen Cheng Kuan-Liu Kuang Heng 24-26, 21-19, 21-16 in a thrilling 62-minute semi-final.
The Malaysians will face either Japan’s Hiroki Okamura-Kyohei Yamashita or Indonesia’s Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin in tomorrow’s final.
Chia and Tai’s impressive run at the World Tour Super 300 tournament is a major boost for the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), which is experimenting with new men’s doubles combinations by reshuffling its top pairs to identify the best partnership for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The other three newly formed pairs – Soh Wooi Yik-Man Wei Chong, Tee Kai Wun-Yap Roy King, and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Kang Khai Xing – were eliminated in the first round of their last two tournaments.
The champions of the Taipei Open will receive US$18,959 (RM77,478) in prize money while the runners-up will earn US$9,120 (RM37,268).
