WOOI YIK STILL HOPEFUL OF ENTERING 2024 WORLD TOUR FINALS

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- National men's doubles player Soh Wooi Yik is still hoping to  perform at the World Tour Badminton Finals to be held in Hangzhou, China in December.

However, Wooi Yik admitted that he and his partner Aaron Chia will face a difficult challenge of pushing their world tour ranking to the top eight for the final championship as the duo is currently in 12th position.

What's more, Wooi Yik said he is still not at a full fitness level especially after the 26-year-old athlete has just recovered from a fractured bone in his right toe sustained during the Paris Olympics in August and he needs to regain the rhythm of the game now.

"If possible, we also hope to enter (world tour). There are two to three tournaments left before the world tour and we did not play in many tournaments this year. So we are still trailing in points. Nonetheless we don't want to force ourselves.

"Just want to get back my rhythm. My body needs to adapt because before going to Europe I only trained for two weeks, perhaps my fitness or strength is not at its peak yet," he said at the Federal Territories Malaysia Games (SUKMA) Victory Incentive Presentation Ceremony here today.

The Kuala Lumpur-born athlete said there were only three tournaments left for him to collect points to qualify for the 2024 Final World Tour Badminton Championships, namely the Korea Masters,  Masters Japan and China Masters in November.

Last week, Aaron-Wooi Yik lost to the Chinese pair, Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi 20-22, 15-21 in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open in Odense, after they ended the Arctic Open competition, in the second round on Oct 10.

At the Malaysian Sports Victory Incentive Ceremony (SUKMA) of the Federal Territory, Wooi Yik received a windfall amounting to RM50,000 for successfully winning bronze at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris with his partner, Aaron Chia.

-- BERNAMA