What has changed? – Steve’s Badminton Blog and Website

Aaron Chia – Soh Wooi Yik has the unfortunate distinction of being the only doubles pair of losing 10 out of the 11 finals they were in for the earlier part of their careers. Now, they won 3 out of the 4 tournaments they were in, and in the space of 1 month, or within 30 days! What has changed with their game? Let’s discuss.

For all the promise which Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik showed in their early careers, their record was appaulling. From 2017 when they were paired up and competed in Super 100 and its equivalent tournaments, they were in 4 finals and lost all 4. From 2018 until 2023 when they competed in higher tier tournaments, they were in 8 finals, and only won 2, the World Championships in 2022 and the Denmark Open in 2023. But they manage to win the Bronze medal in the Olympics in 2021.

After that, they were still blowing hot and cold, ending up in 2 finals in 2024, losing in the All England but winning the Korean Masters. They repeated their feat by winning the Bronze in the Olympics again.

Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik seemed to be the nearly men of the men’s doubles discipline. They are very good, but somehow just not good enough to cross the finish line first. They had great skills, an excellent defense, very good attack and flat play. But somehow, they lacked the final push to make it over the finish line in first place.

I always wondered what was with these 2 guys. Was it a mental block? Or was it tactical? Or was it both? I gave them a rather unflattering nickname: “the Losers.” But when they showed the form they did in May 2025, I vowed to drop that nickname and call them what they deserve: “the Winners.”

It is such an interesting change which has happened to the both of them. It coincided with the arrival of Herry IP. A legendary coach and master tactician, and he managed to bring out the best in these 2 nearly men. Let’s look at some tactical changes which has happened.

Positioning During Attacks

This snapshot is taken the World Tour Finals in 2025 where Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik were playing agains Gautam and Isfahani. That was before Herry IP came and revamped their way of playing.

In this snapshot during the attack, we can see Aaron Chia going for the smash, and Soh Wooi Yik takes up a position directly in front of Aaron Chia. The tactical positioning is shown below:

This tactical positioning is good for straight attacks. Straight attacks with good power make it difficult for the opponent to send their defending shots to the side. And that is when the player covering the front is able to attack and finish it off. However, the game has evolved a bit, and this approach is not as effective as it once was.

This tactical approach requires the player at the rear to have a powerful smash. The type of attacks are what I would term, brute force attacks. The player tries to smash his way through the defenses. And when he does that, the opponent is not able to get a good defensive return, the guy in front can have an easy finish. This is favoured is Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat, as Tan Boon Heong has a marvelous smash. The same tactic is also favoured by Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong. Shetty and Rankireddy uses this approach too, as do the legendary Setiawan and Mohammed Ahsan, and Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang.

In this era where the defenses of doubles pairs are extremely formidable, this tactical approach is less effective. We have seen Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik themselves defend against such tactics with ease. These 2 have a wonderful defense, and are never afraid to rely on it.

With the arrival of Herry IP, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik has changed their tactical positioning.

This snapshot is taken from the Singapore Open 2025 where they play against Seo Seung Jae and Kim Wan Ho. The Koreans are the inform pair as they have been on a good winning streak since reforming their partnership. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik managed to put a stop to that.

In this snapshot, Aaron Chia is once again doing the attack, but look at Soh Wooi Yik’s positioning. He has not taken the popular position of being right in front of the person doing the smashes. He has taken a more central position at the “T”.

I’ll be honest that I might be a bit bias with this positioning. It is the position which I preferred as a youth player. This positioning is allows for more variation of play for the attacking player at the back.

This formation allows the player at the back to launch attacks in any area of the court, sidelines to the central area, it is all in play. The main requirement for it to work it that the player in front must be alert to any cross court counter attacks when the player behind launches attacks to the sidelines.

This is where the player at the front needs to intercept the counter attack. When the player in front can do that, then this tactical positioning opens up a lot more variations of attack.

Using this formation successfully requires a lot of rotation. When the player in front intercepts a counter attack, he will have to move backwards quickly, while the player in at the back moves forward to cover the open space.

This dynamism means both players must be comfortable enough cover both front court and back court. There is no fixed position for the players and both must be strong on all aspects on court.

Less Lifts more Flat Play

In the past, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik have a tendency to lift the shuttle and rely on their defenses. While their defenses are strong, it is not a good idea to rely on it all the while as eventually the opponents will find a way.

Coach Herry IP mandated that they lift less, if possible, none at all, and use flat play instead to try and get out of trouble. Instead of lifting, move in quicker and push or drive the shuttle in a lower arc. This forces the opponents to either do a flat return as well, or lift it high.

By giving the opponents less opportunities to attack, it has made them tougher to beat. And when the opponents do finally get to attack, they have to get pass Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik’s solid defenses. And that has never been easy.

More Confidence

When their attacking play showed much more success because they were adopting the new formation, it gave Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik a lot of confidence. In the past, their main weakness was always their attack, where they could not finish off pairs with great defenses like Seo Seung Jae and whoever he partners with. But given the freedom to be more creative in their attacks, they found success, and it fueled their confidence.

By adopting the approach to lift less and do more flat play, they are also limiting their opponents’ chances to attack them. And when the opponents finally find a chance to attack them, they have their nearly impregnable defense to rely on.

Given these 3 factors, it totally changed them. They have always been a top pair in men’s doubles. Perhaps now, they are finally a world class pair, capable of beating anyone.

That’s it for this entry.

Until the next entry, eat well, get plenty of rest and keep the badminton going!