Axiata roar powers Aaron-Wooi Yik and Wei Chong-Kai Wun into last eight [WATCH]

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian men's pairs Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun took different routes to the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open on Thursday but acknowledged the immense support from the fans, which has bolstered their chances at the Axiata Arena.

World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik survived a scare against a China scratch pair before beating Chen Xu Jun-Liu Yang 21-14, 14-21, 21-14 in a 62-minute last-16 clash.

World No. 5 Wei Chong-Kai Wun were in their zone as the cheering and chanting of the Malaysian fans lifted them to a runaway 21-9, 21-15 win over Japan's world No. 26 Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita in just 29 minutes.

Aaron admitted that they were still bothered by the draught, their own unforced errors as well as pressure, but credited the fans for helping them make a strong comeback after losing the second game.

He added that the presence of the fans will be crucial to their progress.

"I felt that (pressure) indeed... we also hope to play until the last day. But expectation and reality are sometimes different," said Aaron.

"We hope Malaysia fans can keep on supporting us and our entire team."

"It's a good sign that we both won today. And that means we are at the same level now so everything is still good.

"We can tra sform our performance in training to here. We just want to find our rhythm and our strong partnership," said Wooi Yik.

"We expected it because a new pair always provides a tough fight and we know China pairs are not easy to beat. So we were prepared for that and we didn't take them for granted."

Aaron-Wooi Yik are expected to play either Indonesia's world No. 8 Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani or South Korean world No. 22 Kang Min Hyuk-Ki Dong Ju in the last eight.

Meanwhile, Wei Chong-Kai Wun struck a chord with the fans at Axiata Arena again with a dominating performance against Midorikawa-Yamashita. The win took their head-to-head record to 2-1 and also avenged their straight-game defeat to the Japanese pair at the Kumamoto Masters in November.

Wei Chong hailed the fans' support and said it was the major factor in their progress.

"The fans were screaming for every point... losing a point or winning a point... and it made us more excited. That noise didn't stop and it helped us to keep continuing," said Wei Chong.

"Many fans, from far away, from unknown places, are here. This is a motivation for us, so we are definitely excited playing in Malaysia.."

Their exploits started at the arena when they finished runners-up at the 2023 Malaysia Masters and won the tournament last year. They were also semi-finalists at the Malaysia Open last year.

Kai Wun said: "For sure, we are enjoying the support fom the fans and hoping for the crowd to help us win tomorrow."

Wei Chong-Kai Wun will either play world No. 1 Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Seung Jae or compatriots Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong in the last eight.