Aaron‑Wooi Yik upsets world No. 1 duo to reach World Championships final
The Malaysian pair are making their second appearance at the final, having won gold in 2022 and bronze a year later.
Source: Free Malaysia Today · August 22, 2026 at 4:50 PM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourceINDIRA GANDHI INDOOR STADIUM, NEW DELHI, 23 AUGUST 2026 —
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Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik beat South Korea’s world No 1 pair Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae 21-17, 21-18. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik created Malaysian badminton history in style to make their second appearance at the World Championships final by defeating the defending champions and world No 1 pair.
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Aaron-Wooi Yik disposed of South Korea's Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae by 21-17, 21-18 in a match that lasted 43 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The head-to-head score between the two pairs now stands at 3-2 in favour of the Koreans. Aaron-Wooi Yik are the first Malaysian pair to have made the World Championships finals twice.
They will now face China’s top pair Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang, who defeated Taiwanese pair Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan to enter the final. Aaron-Wooi Yik made history in 2022 as Malaysia’s first men’s doubles world champions before adding a bronze medal a year later. They now have a third medal in hand. They are next to the legendary men’s singles player Lee Chong Wei who won four silver medals at the World Championships.
He has gone on record to say that not winning the world champion title was one of his major regrets in his career. While the World Championships offer no prize money, the winner carries the world champion title and valuable ranking points are awarded for the World Tour Finals (WTF) in China in December.
Aaron-Wooi Yik are currently ranked No 10 in the WTF standings, where only the top eight pairs are selected for the finals. They are still chasing their first title this year, having finished runners-up at the All England and Malaysia Open which are both World Tour Super 1000 tournaments. (AI-assisted rewrite, based on the original source)
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