Aaron, Wooi Yik Each Receive RM100,000 Under SHAKAM Incentive Scheme

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 22 (Bernama) -- The country’s top men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were each awarded RM100,000 under the Sports Victory Prize Scheme (SHAKAM) incentive in recognition of their bronze medal win at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh announced that the government, through the National Sports Council (NSC), decided to double the reward to RM100,000 each, compared to the RM50,000 awarded after their bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.

“Both of them fought equally hard. For now we treat this as case by case first (giving RM100,000 each) This is the second time they bring medal (Olympic Games) for the country so we believe it’s right to give them RM100,000 each,” she said at the Olympic medallists car handover ceremony here, today.

Earlier, Aaron and Wooi Yik together with professional men’s singles player, Lee Zii Jia were each presented a sports utility vehichle (SUV) car by Chery Malaysia following their success in Paris 2024.

Hannah also confirmed that Zii Jia, who also delivered a bronze in Paris 2024, would also enjoy RM100,000 under SHAKAM as well as a lifetime pension of RM2,000 per month under the NSC’s Permanent  Olympics Incentive Scheme.

On top of that, Hannah said Zii Jia, who was previously awarded RM50,000 before the Paris 2024 Games, will receive an additional RM100,000 from the NSC, which he can claim to cover his expenses leading up to the Olympics.

In Paris 2024, Aaron-Wooi Yik defended their Olympic bronze medal after beating Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 16-21, 22-20, 21-19 while Zii Jia clinched his bronze medal,after overcoming  Lashya Sen of India, 13-21, 21-16, 21-11.

Meanwhile, Wooi Yik expressed surprise at the announcement of the RM100,000 reward from the NSC.

“Before this RM50,000 but now RM100,000. We really appreciate what the minister (Hannah) did until Paris, supporting us and she knows how we foght for the country,” he said.

The 26-year-old also hoped the reward would boost them to perform much better in future tournaments including the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles with the main focus of challenging the world’s top pair from China, Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang.

Based on the head to head record, Aaron-Wooi Yik had a poor record against Wei Keng-Wang Chang, losing eight out of 10 matches they played before.

-- BERNAMA