KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Men’s doubles defending champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah marched into the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2026 in Ningbo, China, after hard-fought second-round victories on Thursday.
Aaron-Wooi Yik edged home pair Hu Ke Yuan-Lin Xiang Yi 22-20, 21-19 in a tightly contested clash for their first career win over the Chinese duo at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre.
The second-seeded Malaysians will next face South Korea’s Kang Min Hyuk-Ki Dong Ju for a place in the semi-finals in their first-ever meeting.
Pearly-Thinaah, meanwhile, were pushed to the limit before overcoming Taiwan’s Hsu Yin Hui-Lin Jhih Yun 21-19, 19-21, 24-22 in a thrilling encounter that lasted over an hour.
The win marked their third victory over the Taiwanese pair, having previously beaten them at the French Open 2025 and the Masters Japan 2025.
The Malaysians are set to meet either Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara or China’s Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min in the last eight.
Meanwhile, Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting lost 18-21, 14-21 to world number 7 Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi of Japan in the women’s doubles second round tie.
