Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik Beat World No. 1 Pair to Set Up Denmark Open Final Against Indonesia

Malaysia's reunited pair move within one win of the title

Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik defeated world No. 1 Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae 21-14, 21-18 in 38 minutes on October 17, 2026, reaching the Denmark Open men's doubles final and moving within one victory of their first World Tour title of the season.

The Malaysian world No. 4 pair will face Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in Sunday's final on October 18 at Jyske Bank Arena in Odense. Fajar and Fikri secured their place by beating China's Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang 21-16, 16-21, 21-16 in the other semifinal.

For Aaron and Wooi Yik, the result carries weight beyond another appearance in a final. They have reunited after Malaysia tested different doubles combinations, and have now beaten the leading South Korean pair in two consecutive meetings. Their previous victory came in the World Championships semifinal in August.

Saturday's win also levelled their career record against Kim and Seo at three victories each from six matches. After losing to the Koreans in this year's Malaysia Open and All England finals, the Malaysians have answered with victories at two major events.

A seven point surge changes the opening game

Aaron and Wooi Yik's victory came in straight games, but both games contained periods when the Koreans threatened to take control. Malaysia's quick exchanges near the net helped establish an early 4-1 advantage in the opener before Kim and Seo recovered to make it 10-10.

The Malaysians reached the interval ahead 11-10. Kim and Seo then found more success with their attack and moved into a 13-11 lead, putting the fourth seeds under pressure at a stage when the game was still finely balanced.

Aaron and Wooi Yik responded with seven consecutive points to lead 18-13. That run transformed a two point deficit into a five point advantage. The Koreans managed only one more point before Malaysia closed out the game 21-14.

The decisive feature was the Malaysians' ability to regain control after falling behind. Kim and Seo had worked their way into the lead, but Aaron and Wooi Yik's sustained scoring run left them little room to recover before the end of the game.

Malaysia hold firm as Korea threaten a comeback

Kim and Seo remained competitive in the second game, reaching the interval with an 11-10 lead. Exchanges around the net again played a central part, with neither pair able to create a comfortable advantage early on.

Aaron and Wooi Yik then pulled ahead 16-12 as errors interrupted the Korean challenge. Kim and Seo reduced the gap to 16-14, only for a service error by Kim and another missed return to help Malaysia move 18-14 ahead.

The world No. 1 pair kept chasing and reached 18-19. At that point, just one point separated the teams, and a third game remained a possibility. Errors from Kim and then Seo handed the Malaysians the final two points and a 21-18 victory.

Across the two games, Aaron and Wooi Yik scored 42 points to the Koreans' 32. The ten point difference reflects Malaysia's stronger scoring spells, although the late pressure in the second game made the closing stages tighter than that total suggests.

A rivalry shifts after two painful final defeats

Aaron and Wooi Yik entered the semifinal trailing Kim and Seo 3-2 across their previous meetings. Saturday's result brought the record level at 3-3 and continued a change in the direction of the rivalry during the second half of the season.

The Koreans had beaten the Malaysians in the 2026 Malaysia Open and All England finals. Aaron and Wooi Yik reversed that outcome at the World Championships in August, defeating them in the semifinal before finishing as runners-up.

Malaysia's pair had also beaten Kim and Seo in the previous year's Singapore Open final. Their meetings have therefore included several matches with a title or a place in a final at stake.

For Kim and Seo, the defeat extended their run without a tournament title to eight events. Their most recent championship came at the Asian Championships in April. Since then, they have finished as runners-up at the Japan Open and China Open, reached the semifinals at the Singapore Open and Indonesia Open, and won bronze at the Asian Games.

A reunion shaped by the search for Olympic combinations

Aaron and Wooi Yik were separated during a Malaysian men's doubles reshuffle in June 2026, as the Badminton Association of Malaysia explored combinations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Aaron also reached the Taipei Open final while playing alongside Aaron Tai.

The established partnership returned for the World Championships in August and reached the final. After the Asian Games, Aaron and Wooi Yik asked their coach and Lee Chong Wei to let them compete together again. The Denmark Open has now produced another final following their reunion.

Odense already holds a special place in their partnership. Aaron and Wooi Yik won their first World Tour title together at the Denmark Open in 2023. Three years later, they have returned to the final while seeking their first World Tour championship of 2026.

Their season has included runner-up finishes at the Malaysia Open, All England and World Championships. The World Championships is a separate competition from the World Tour, but all three results show how often the Malaysians have come close to a major title this year.

The route through an all Malaysian contest and Japan

Aaron and Wooi Yik reached the quarterfinals on October 15 by beating compatriots Yap Roy King and Aaron Tai 21-18, 21-11. The match put Aaron opposite Tai, the player with whom he had reached the Taipei Open final during Malaysia's partnership trials.

Japan's Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita were next. The Malaysians defeated the world No. 41 pair 21-16, 21-18 on October 16 to reach their sixth semifinal of the season.

Aaron Chia, speaking after that quarterfinal victory, welcomed their return to the later stages in Denmark.

It's a good one for us to come back again.

Soh Wooi Yik explained that the Japanese pair's defence and ability to turn defence into attack had required careful control from the Malaysians.

They had very good defence and counterattacked more. I think we did quite well in the first game and did not give them many chances.

The three victories from the second round through the semifinal all came in straight games. Against Japan, the priority was limiting counterattacks. Against the Koreans, the Malaysians combined effective net exchanges with strong responses when the score turned against them.

Indonesia confirm the final matchup

Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri ended the uncertainty over Malaysia's final opponents by overcoming second seeds Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang in three games. The Indonesian third seeds won the opener 21-16, lost the second 16-21 and took the decider 21-16.

Sunday's final will therefore bring together the third and fourth seeds, after both defeated pairs seeded above them in the semifinals. Aaron and Wooi Yik eliminated the top seeds, while Fajar and Fikri removed the second seeds.

The Indonesians needed three games to progress, compared with Malaysia's two. Aaron and Wooi Yik's semifinal lasted 38 minutes. A duration for the Indonesian semifinal and an exact starting time for Sunday's final were not given.

The doubles champions will receive US$70,300, while the runners-up will receive US$33,250. The difference is US$37,050, meaning the winning pair's prize is slightly more than twice the amount awarded to the losing finalists.

Hoo and Lai's surprise run ends against the top seeds

Malaysia's mixed doubles pair Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing finished their Denmark Open campaign in the semifinals after losing 21-13, 21-13 to China's Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping in 36 minutes.

Hoo and Lai, ranked 51st, had beaten higher ranked opponents in each of their first three rounds. Their standout result came on October 15, when they defeated Thailand's world No. 5 pair Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran 21-7, 21-11 in just 24 minutes.

That victory brought together pairs separated by 46 ranking places. Hoo and Lai conceded only 18 points across the two games, securing a quarterfinal place with one of Malaysia's strongest results of the week.

Feng and Huang, the world No. 1 mixed doubles pair, ended that progress with identical winning margins in both semifinal games. Hoo and Lai will receive US$13,300 as losing semifinalists.

Four days that brought Malaysia to the final

The tournament's closing stages have brought a rapid sequence of results for Malaysia, from a domestic matchup in men's doubles to victories over leading international pairs.

• October 15: Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik beat Yap Roy King and Aaron Tai 21-18, 21-11. Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing defeated Thailand's world No. 5 mixed doubles pair 21-7, 21-11.
• October 16: Aaron and Wooi Yik beat Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita 21-16, 21-18 to reach their sixth semifinal of the season.
• October 17: Aaron and Wooi Yik defeated Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae 21-14, 21-18. Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri won the other men's doubles semifinal.
• October 18: Aaron and Wooi Yik are scheduled to face Fajar and Fikri in the men's doubles final in Odense.

For the reunited Malaysians, one match now separates another runner-up finish from a return to the title they first won together in 2023.

Key Points

• Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik beat the world's top ranked men's doubles pair in 38 minutes to reach the Denmark Open final.
• Their record against Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae is now level at 3-3.
• Indonesia's Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri will be their opponents on October 18.
• The Malaysians are seeking their first World Tour title of 2026 at the tournament where they won their first in 2023.
• Hoo Pang Ron and Lai Pei Jing's mixed doubles campaign ended in the semifinals against Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping.
• The winning doubles pairs will receive US$70,300 each, compared with US$33,250 for the runners-up.