SEPANG, March 13 ― National men’s doubles badminton player Aaron Chia Teng Fong admits that he and his partner, Soh Wooi Yik, still have a long way to go to be on par with the world’s best.

Although they stunned several top pairs en route to the recent All-England final before losing to Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, Aaron acknowledged that success does not happen overnight.

"Overall, we are happy with our achievement at the All-England, but our coach tells us that this is just the beginning and that our main challenge starts in May (in the qualifiers for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics).

"We still have a long road to go...we need to continue working hard in training to raise our performance as well as think long-term in our bid to become the best,” he said on arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) here yesterday.

World No. 15 Aaron-Wooi Yik lost 21-11, 14-21, 12-21 in the final to Ahsan-Hendra, who also won the All-England in 2014.

Still, it was a proud achievement, considering that the rest of the national shuttlers crashed out in the earlier rounds.

Meanwhile, Wooi Yik said their debut in the prestigious All-England championships had given them useful experience as well as turned them into more mature players.

"We met a few world-class combinations along the way to the final, starting from the first round itself...so it taught us how to control our emotions on a big stage like the All-England and also motivated us to become better,” he said.

Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong were the last Malaysians to win the men’s doubles title at the All-England in 2007. ― Bernama