All England: Five M’sia Men’s Pairs Into Round Two, Quarter-final Spot Guaranteed

KUALA LUMPUR, March 5 (Bernama) — Malaysia are assured of a men’s doubles quarter-final berth at the 2026 All England Championships after world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and four other national pairs advanced to the second round.

In first-round matches early Thursday at Utilita Arena Birmingham, Aaron-Wooi Yik beat Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith of the United States 21-17, 21-17 while Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King edged past Denmark’s Daniel Lungaard-Mads Vestergaard 21-19,18-21, 21-18. 

The two pairs will meet in the second round on Thursday, thus guaranteeing Malaysia a quater-final spot.

Aaron-Wooi Yik have beaten the world No. 18 in both their previous meetings — at the Thailand Open 2025 and the 2025 World Championships.

Also through to the second round are professional players Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who beat Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi 21-10, 21-15 in 31 minutes in their first-ever meeting.

The world No. 8 pair will next face Indonesia’s Muhammad Rian Ardianto-Rahmat Hidayat.

Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also kept the Malaysian flag flying by defeating Taiwan’s Fang Chih Lee-Fang Jen Lee 21-17, 21-16 in 41 minutes. They will take on Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan next.

The biggest Malaysian victory of the day perhaps belonged to Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai, who created a sensation when they beat world No. 4 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India 23-21, 21-12 in 42 minutes in an earlier first-round match.

In the women’s doubles, world No. 2 Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah made a winning start by overcoming Japan’s Arisa Igarashi-Chiharu Shida 21-19, 21-13 in 46 minutes, levelling their head-to-head record at 1-1.

In the second round, Pearly-Thinaah are scheduled to face South Korea’s Lee Seo Jin-Lee Yeon Woo for the first time.

However, another Malaysian pair in the event, Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting, were eliminated after losing to Japan’s Yuki Fukushima-Mayu Matsumoto 17-21, 8-21.

The national camp also suffered a setback in the mixed doubles when professional pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien fell to China’s Guo Xin Wa-Chen Fang Hui 21-17, 12-21, 9-21 in 56 minutes.

— BERNAMA