Aaron-Wooi Yik storm into final of World Championships

In the semi-finals at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, world number six Aaron-Wooi Yik gave a spirited performance to beat the world's seventh ranked Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India 20-22, 21-18, 21-16.

After trailing 7-12 in the first game, the Malaysians tightened their play to catch up at 16-16, 19-19 and 20-20, before losing 20-22 due to their own mistakes.

It was also neck and neck in the second and third games but Aaron-Wooi Yik showed better composure in defence and sharpness in attack to win 21-18 and 21-16.

This is the national pair's fourth outing at the world meet, with their best performance before this being a quarter-final appearance at the 2018 edition in Nanjing, China.

In tomorrow's final, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics bronze medallists will play third seeds and former three-time world champions Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.

Ahsan-Hendra had earlier defeated teammates Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto 23-21, 12-21, 21-16 in the other semi-final.

Speaking to Badminton World Federation (BWF) after the match, Aaron said: "Of course we are happy with the performance today, but I say our mission is not done yet; there's one more step to go."

Aaron-Wooi Yik had failed to clear the semi-finals on six occasions this year, including at the recent 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games.

The last time a Malaysian pair qualified for the world championships men's doubles final was at the 2010 edition in Paris, which saw Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong losing to China's Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng.

Another national pair, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, won a surprise bronze in the world meet in Huelva, Spain, last year.