NATIONAL doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky did not mince his words following Malaysian top pairs showing at the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) 2026 in Ningbo, China, on Friday.
All three national number one pairs – reigning men’s doubles champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, women’s doubles Pearly Tan – M. Thinaah and mixed doubles Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei bowed out of the quarter-finals yesterday.
Speaking to Bernama, Rexy admitted that the South Korean pair Kang Min Hyuk-Ki Dong Ju played exceptionally well, shattering Aaron Wooi Yik’s hopes of retaining the title after a 19-21, 28-26, 13-21 defeat.
“They (Min Hyuk-Dong Ju) made very few errors, and in terms of aggressive rotation, the opponents were also better than Aaron Wooi Yik,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian said Pearly-Thinaah, the 2025 Badminton World Championships women’s doubles runner-up, played negatively in the last eight.
The world number two went down to world number nine pair Li Yi Jing-Luo Xu Min of China, 13-21, 15-21.
On Tang Jie-Ee Wei’s loss to the relatively unknown South Korean pair Kim Jae Hyeon-Jang Ha Jeong, 19-21, 17-21, Rexy described the defending world champions’ performance as totally ‘out of order’.
Yesterday’s result marked Malaysia’s first medal-less campaign at the BAC since the 2019 edition in Wuhan, China. – April 11, 2026