Herry demands fitness overhaul from Aaron-Wooi Yik

KUALA LUMPUR: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are mature enough to handle pressure but their physical condition let them down at the World Tour Finals (WTF), said national men's doubles head coach Herry IP.

World No. 2 Aaron-Wooi Yik won only once in three Group B matches in Hangzhou, and failed to reach the last four.

They started with an energy-sapping 22-24, 21-18, 21-19 win over Indonesia's world No. 8 Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri, but lost their remaining matches to China's world No. 5 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang (21-14, 21-18) and India's world No. 3 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (17-21, 21-18, 21-15).

High levels of fitness and endurance were required at the WTF which involves the top eight pairs on the World Tour competing for the top prize of US$252,000 (RM1.03 million).

"Everyone faces pressure but Aaron-Wooi Yik are mature players, so the pressure won't affect them too much. However, there was a clear drop in their physical condition," said Herry.

"Of course, there is disappointment because they failed to reach the semi-finals. But they must work on their physical condition to improve their performance and stay competitive with the world top four pairs."

Competing at the recent SEA Games is not an excuse, as Aaron-Wooi Yik played only six matches in eight days where just two matches were against a top-10 pair — Indonesia's Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani — in Bangkok.

Aaron-Wooi Yik's straight-game defeats in the SEA Games men's team final and the men's doubles final to Sabar-Reza were early indications that they would struggle at the WTF.

World No. 4 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun also failed to reach the knockout stage at the WTF. They defeated Taiwan's world No. 16 Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin (21-18, 21-19) but lost to Sabar-Reza (23-21, 21-19) and South Korean world No. 1 Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae (25-23, 14-21, 21-19) in Group A.

A focus on physical conditioning will be crucial for Aaron-Wooi Yik to make an impact at the Malaysia Open on Jan 6–11, while a complete recovery from injury will do a world of good for Kai Wun to regain his form.