Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik produce incredible rally to reclaim ...
Gabriel Tan
Aug 4, 2024, 03:30 PM
Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik have reclaimed the Olympic badminton men's doubles bronze medal after producing an almighty rally to come from behind and Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 16-21 22-20 21-19 in Sunday's third place playoff.
After dropping the first game against the second-seeded Danish duo, Chia and Soh looked destined for defeat as they trailed 20-16 in the second game -- with their opponents only needing to convert one of their four match points.
But the Malaysians would embark on a remarkable run to turn the tie around, taking the second game after reeling off six consecutive points.
Chia and Soh's momentum would continue in the third game and, at one point, they were holding a healthy six-point lead.
At 14-10, Soh somehow managed to stay in the rally even after his strings had snapped before Chia finished off the point with a smash.
There was however still to be one final twist in the tale and it was Astrup and Rasmussen's turn to mount a fightback of their own and they would even claim the lead late on in the third game.
Nonetheless, Chia and Soh would maintain their composure and needed only their first match point to claim the win -- and a second Olympic bronze after the one they won in Tokyo against Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.
Chia and Soh's success comes a day after compatriots Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan fell just short in the women's doubles bronze medal playoff as they just did not have the answers for Japan's Chiharu Shida and Nami Matsuyama in a 21-11 21-11 loss.
Malaysia could still bag another bronze medal on Monday, with Lee Zii Jia taking on Lakshya Sen of India after losing in the semifinals to Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn earlier on Sunday.