Aaron Chia
谢定峰
Chia interviewed by a journalist after the 2023 President's Cup
Personal information
Birth nameAaron Chia Teng Fong
CountryMalaysia
Born (1997-02-24) 24 February 1997 (age 26)
Batu Berendam, Malacca, Malaysia
Height1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
HandednessRight
CoachTan Bin Shen
Rexy Mainaky
Men's doubles
Highest ranking2 (with Soh Wooi Yik, 24 January 2023)
Current ranking5 (with Soh Wooi Yik, 23 January 2024)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Malaysia
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Men's doubles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tokyo Men's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Copenhagen Men's doubles
Sudirman Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Vantaa Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Suzhou Mixed team
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham Mixed team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Birmingham Men's doubles
Asian Games
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Hangzhou Men's doubles
Asian Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Manila Men's doubles
Asia Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2022 Selangor Men's team
Silver medal – second place 2020 Manila Men's team
Silver medal – second place 2024 Selangor Men's team
SEA Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Philippines Men's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2019 Philippines Men's team
BWF profile

Aaron Chia Teng Fong KMW BCM (Chinese: 謝定峰; pinyin: Xiè Dìngfēng; born 24 February 1997) is a Malaysian badminton player.[1] He and his partner Soh Wooi Yik became the first ever world badminton champions from Malaysia after winning the men's doubles title at the 2022 BWF World Championships.[2] Together, they also won a gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games,[3] a silver medal at the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships,[4] as well as bronze medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics,[5] 2022 Commonwealth Games,[6] 2023 BWF World Championships[7] and 2022 Asian Games.[8]

Early and personal life

Chia was born in Batu Berendam, Melaka to Malaysian Chinese parents, Chan Mee Kee and Chia Boon Foo. He is the second of three siblings. His interest in badminton began at the age of four when he often followed his father to the badminton court. Chia represented Melaka when he was just 11 years old. At the age of 14, he managed to enter Bukit Jalil Sports School (SSBJ) and started training with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) when he was in Form 5.[9]

Chia is married to Goh Mui Kee and the couple has two daughters.[10]

Career

He has joined the national team since 2015.[11]

2015

In September, Chia partnered Soh Wooi Yik and reached the final of Malaysia Junior International, finishing as runner-ups.[12]

In November, the duo competed at the 2015 BWF World Junior Championships but crashed out in the fourth round.[13]

2016–2017

In October 2016, he and his partner Wong Wai Jun were the runner-ups at the Swiss International.[14]

Before the end of the 2017 season, Chia reunited with Soh and managed to qualify for the finals of the India International.[15]

2018

In March, Chia and Soh stormed into their second international final at the Vietnam International, but failed to win the title.[16]

In the following month, they got into the final of Malaysia International but lost out narrowly to Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.[17]

In August, the pair made their debut at the 2018 BWF World Championships where they reached the quarter-finals before losing out to Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen.[18]

In November, they reached the final of SaarLorLux Open but went down to Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in three games.[19]

2019–2020: SEA Games gold

In March 2019, Chia and Soh participated in the All England Open where they emerged as a surprise finalist. The pair settled for second best after losing to Ahsan and Setiawan in the final.[20] In December 2019, he helped the Malaysian team to win a silver medal in the men's team event at the 2019 SEA Games.[21][22] He and Soh then took part in the men's doubles event and went on to win the gold, beating Bodin Isara and Maneepong Jongjit in the final.[3]

He was also part of Malaysia's men's team that won silver at the 2020 Badminton Asia Team Championships in February.[23][24]

2021: Olympic bronze

In January, Chia and Soh reached their third BWF World Tour final at the Thailand Open and finished as the runner-ups.[25]

In late July, the duo made their debut appearance in the men's doubles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The duo prevailed against Ahsan and Setiawan 17–21, 21–17, 21–14 in the bronze medal playoff, winning bronze for Malaysia.[5]

He was one of the Malaysian players that won bronze at the 2021 Sudirman Cup in late September.[26]

2022: First world title for Malaysia

Chia was part of the Malaysian men's team that won gold at the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships in February.[27][28]

In late April, he and Soh entered the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships final but were bested by Indonesians Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan.[4]

In August, he won a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.[29] He also won a bronze medal in the men's doubles event with Soh, ending his debut campaign with two medals.[6] A few weeks later, Chia and Soh competed at the 2022 BWF World Championships as the sixth seeds. In the final, they defeated three-time world champions Ahsan and Setiawan 21–19, 21–14 to clinch Malaysia's first ever gold medal at the tournament.[2]

2023: First BWF World Tour title

In the first half of 2023, Chia and Soh did not manage to win any of the tournaments they participated in. Their most notable achievements were reaching the finals of India Open in January[30] and Indonesia Open in June.[31] Chia also helped the Malaysian team win a second consecutive bronze medal at the 2023 Sudirman Cup in May.[32]

In August, Chia and Soh were unable to defend their title at the 2023 BWF World Championships.[33] They settled for the bronze medal after losing to the eventual champions, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, in the semi-finals.[7]

They then contested their third final of the year at the China Open in September. However, they went down to Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in straight games.[34]

In October, the pair concluded their debut campaign at the 2022 Asian Games with a bronze medal finish in the men's doubles event.[8] A few weeks later, they triumphed against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana in the Denmark Open final, finally putting an end to their six-year wait for a BWF World Tour title.[35]

Awards

Year Award Category Result
2021 Anugerah Sukan Negara National Sportsman (with Soh Wooi Yik) Nominated[36]
Men's Team Sports (with Soh Wooi Yik) Won[37]
2022 National Sportsman (with Soh Wooi Yik) Won[38]

Honours

Achievements

Olympic Games

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2020 Musashino Forest Sport Plaza,
Tokyo, Japan 		Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Indonesia Mohammad Ahsan
Indonesia Hendra Setiawan 		17–21, 21–17, 21–14 Bronze [5]

World Championships

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2022 Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium,
Tokyo, Japan 		Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Indonesia Mohammad Ahsan
Indonesia Hendra Setiawan 		21–19, 21–14 Gold Gold [2]
2023 Royal Arena,
Copenhagen, Denmark 		Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik South Korea Kang Min-hyuk
South Korea Seo Seung-jae 		21–23, 13–21 Bronze Bronze [7]

Commonwealth Games

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2022 National Exhibition Centre,
Birmingham, England 		Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Malaysia Chan Peng Soon
Malaysia Tan Kian Meng 		21–19, 11–21, 21–11 Bronze Bronze [6]

Asian Games

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2022 Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik India Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
India Chirag Shetty 		17–21, 12–21 Bronze Bronze [8]

Asian Championships

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2022 Muntinlupa Sports Complex,
Metro Manila, Philippines 		Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Indonesia Pramudya Kusumawardana
Indonesia Yeremia Rambitan 		21–23, 10–21 Silver Silver [4]

SEA Games

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2019 Muntinlupa Sports Complex,
Metro Manila, Philippines 		Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Thailand Bodin Isara
Thailand Maneepong Jongjit 		18–21, 21–15, 21–16 Gold Gold [3]

BWF World Tour (1 title, 6 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[42] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[43]

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2018 SaarLorLux Open Super 100 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik England Marcus Ellis
England Chris Langridge 		23–21, 18–21, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [19]
2019 All England Open Super 1000 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Indonesia Mohammad Ahsan
Indonesia Hendra Setiawan 		21–11, 14–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [20]
2020 (II) Thailand Open Super 1000 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Chinese Taipei Lee Yang
Chinese Taipei Wang Chi-lin 		13–21, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [25]
2023 India Open Super 750 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik China Liang Weikeng
China Wang Chang 		21–14, 19–21, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [30]
2023 Indonesia Open Super 1000 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik India Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
India Chirag Shetty 		17–21, 18–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [31]
2023 China Open Super 1000 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik China Liang Weikeng
China Wang Chang 		12–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [34]
2023 Denmark Open Super 750 Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Indonesia Muhammad Shohibul Fikri
Indonesia Bagas Maulana 		21–13, 21–17 1st place, gold medalist(s) Winner [35]

BWF International Challenge/Series (4 runners-up)

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result Ref
2016 Swiss International Malaysia Wong Wai Jun Malaysia Goh Sze Fei
Malaysia Nur Izzuddin 		18–21, 12–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2017 Tata Open India International Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Thailand Maneepong Jongjit
Thailand Nanthakarn Yordphaisong 		6–21, 9–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [44]
2018 Vietnam International Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Thailand Maneepong Jongjit
Thailand Nanthakarn Yordphaisong 		18–21, 14–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up [45]
2018 Malaysia International Malaysia Soh Wooi Yik Indonesia Mohammad Ahsan
Indonesia Hendra Setiawan 		17–21, 21–17, 19–21 2nd place, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 17 October 2023.

Soh Wooi Yik

Chia and Soh lead the head-to-head record with a wide margin against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Meanwhile, they have a poor head-to-head record against Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (2–9), Li Junhui & Liu Yuchen (0–6), Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan (4–8), and also Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi (2–6).[46]

Notes

  1. ^ Tournament Software did not include the results of men's team event of the 2022 Asian Games for head-to-head.[47]

References

  1. ^ "Players: Aaron Chia". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. ^ a b c R., Kirubashini (28 August 2022). "History is made, Aaron-Soh win first Malaysia's badminton world title". The Star. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Doubles' win makes it triple gold for Malaysia's badminton campaign". New Straits Times. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 22 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Liew, Vincent (2 May 2022). "Aaron Chia Upbeat Despite 2022 Badminton Asia Championships Final loss". Badminton Planet. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Peter, Fabian (31 July 2022). "Aaron-Wooi Yik win Olympic medal for Malaysia". New Straits Times. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  6. ^ a b c "Commonwealth Games: Shuttlers Aaron-Wooi Yik tame Peng Soon-Kian Meng for bronze". Malay Mail. 8 August 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  7. ^ a b c "BWF World Championships 2023: Bronze medal finish for Aaron-Wooi Yik". Badminton Association of Malaysia. 27 August 2023. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Lim, Teik Huat (6 October 2023). "Badminton: Aaron-Wooi Yik bag bronze in Asian Games". The Star. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  9. ^ BERNAMA (8 January 2021). "Aaron's fighting spirit makes dad proud". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  10. ^ Tan Ming Wai (1 August 2021). "Bronze for bravery". The Star. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  11. ^ "Talent Team". Badminton Association of Malaysia. Archived from the original on 25 March 2018. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  12. ^ "BWF - MAYBANK Malaysia International Youth U-19 2015 - Winners". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Badminton: Satheishtharan prevents total wipeout in world junior meet". The Star. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  14. ^ "Sze Fei-Izzuddin cruise to Swiss International win". The Star. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Badminton: New partners Aaron-Wooi Yik go down to Maneepong-Nanthakarn in final". The Star. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Badminton: Malaysian shuttlers return home from Hanoi empty-handed". The Star. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  17. ^ Peter, Fabian (22 April 2018). "No clean sweep for Malaysian shuttlers". New Straits Times. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  18. ^ "李俊慧/刘雨辰进四强：今天状态发挥并不是很好". sports.sina.cn (in Simplified Chinese). 4 August 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  19. ^ a b Liew, Vincent (4 November 2018). "Marcus Ellis/Chris Langridge beat Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik in SaarrLorLux Open Final". Badminton Planet. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  20. ^ a b "Chia-Soh runner-up of All-England 2019". Bernama. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  21. ^ "MALAYSIA 2019 SEA GAMES SQUAD ANNOUNCED". bam.org.my. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  22. ^ "Malaysia fails to end gold drought in badminton". Malay Mail. 4 December 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  23. ^ "BWF - Badminton Asia Team Championships 2020 - Team: [MAS] Malaysia - Players". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Indonesia's men's badminton team pulls off Asia Team Championships hat trick". The Jakarta Post. 17 February 2020. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  25. ^ a b Zhang, Kevin (24 January 2021). "Viktor Axelsen & Carolina Marin Win Second Title in Two Weeks at Toyota Thailand Open". Badminton Planet. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  26. ^ "Japan ends Malaysia's run in the Sudirman Cup". The Malaysian Reserve. 3 October 2021. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  27. ^ "OFFICIAL: YOUTHFUL LINEUP FOR BATC2022 | BAM". bam.org.my. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  28. ^ "Malaysian men's squad end Indonesia's dominance to win Badminton Asia Team Championships 2022". Malay Mail. 20 February 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  29. ^ Anil, Nicolas (3 August 2023). "Commonwealth Games: Malaysia exact revenge against India to regain badminton mixed team gold". Stadium Astro. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
  30. ^ a b "'Open' title continues to elude Aaron-Wooi Yik". New Straits Times. 22 January 2023. Archived from the original on 23 January 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  31. ^ a b "Indonesia Open: Satwik-Chirag pair see off Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik to clinch historic Super 1000 title". First Post. 18 June 2023. Archived from the original on 18 June 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  32. ^ R., Kirubashini (20 May 2023). "Malaysia's fine run in Sudirman Cup ends in semi-final defeat to South Korea". The Star. Archived from the original on 20 May 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  33. ^ "Aaron-Wooi Yik fail to defend World Championship title". The Sun Daily. 27 August 2023. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  34. ^ a b Peter, Fabian (10 September 2023). "Aaron-Wooi Yik play 'bridesmaids' at China Open". New Straits Times. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  35. ^ a b Peter, Fabian (22 October 2023). "Aaron-Wooi Yik finally win their first World Tour title". New Straits Times. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  36. ^ "Azizulhasni, Pandelela crowned sportsman and sportswoman for year 2021". The Star. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  37. ^ Kalbana Perimbanayagam (31 January 2023). "Azizulhasni, Pandalela awarded highest national sports recognition". New Straits Times. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  38. ^ Bernama (18 July 2023). "ASN 2022: Aaron-Wooi Yik, Joe Ee crowned national sportsman and sportswoman". The Sun Daily. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
  39. ^ "IGP, Army chief head Melaka Governor's birthday honours list". The Star. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  40. ^ Mamat, Amir (24 August 2021). "KPN, PTD dahului senarai 695 penerima anugerah kebesaran Melaka" (in Malay). Berita Harian. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
  41. ^ "MB Johor dahului senarai penerima pingat Hari Wilayah Persekutuan". Malaysiakini. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  42. ^ Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  43. ^ Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  44. ^ "Badminton: New partners Aaron-Wooi Yik go down to Maneepong-Nanthakarn in final". The Star. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  45. ^ "Wooi Yik wants to end title wait". New Straits Times. 26 March 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  46. ^ "Aaron Chia Profile – head to head". BWF-Tournament Software. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
  47. ^ "Asian Games: S. Korea deal killer blow to medal hopes of men's badminton team". Malay Mail. 28 September 2023. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

External links

World badminton men's doubles champions
Asian badminton men's team champions
Malaysia medal winners at the Olympic Games
Anugerah Sukan Negara for Sportsman of the Year
World rankings: Top ten badminton players as of 30 January 2024
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