Aaron Chia

Aaron Chia Teng Fong (born 24 February 1997) is a Malaysian badminton player. A world champion, an Asian champion and a double bronze medalist at the Olympic Games, he and his partner Soh Wooi Yik became the first ever world badminton champions from Malaysia after winning the men's doubles title at the 2022 World Championships. Together, they also won a gold medal at the 2019 SEA Games and 2025 Asian Championships, a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Championships, as well as bronze medals at the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics, 2022 Commonwealth Games, 2023 World Championships, 2022 Asian Games and 2024 Asian Championships. They are also the first Malaysian men’s doubles pair to win consecutive medals at the Olympic Games.

Early and personal life

Chia was born in Batu Berendam, Melaka to Malaysian Chinese parents, Chan Mee Kee and Chia Boon Foo. He is the second of three siblings. His interest in badminton began at the age of four when he often followed his father to the badminton court. Chia represented Melaka when he was just 11 years old. At the age of 14, he managed to enter Bukit Jalil Sports School (SSBJ) and started training with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) when he was in Form 5.

Chia is married to Goh Mui Kee and the couple has two daughters.

Career

He has joined the national team since 2015.

2015

In September, Chia partnered Soh Wooi Yik and reached the final of Malaysia Junior International, finishing as runners-up.

In November, the duo competed at the 2015 World Junior Championships but crashed out in the fourth round.

2016–2017

In October 2016, he and his partner Wong Wai Jun were the runners-up at the Swiss International.

Before the end of the 2017 season, Chia reunited with Soh and managed to qualify for the finals of the India International.

2018

In March, Chia and Soh participated in their second international final at the Vietnam International, but failed to win the title.

In the following month, they got into the final of Malaysia International but lost out narrowly to Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.

In August, the pair made their debut at the 2018 World Championships where they reached the quarter-finals before losing out to Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen.

In November, they reached the final of SaarLorLux Open but went down to Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in three games.

2019–2020: All England runner-up & SEA Games gold

In March 2019, Chia and Soh participated in the All England Open where they emerged as a surprise finalist. The pair settled for second best after losing to Ahsan and Setiawan in the final. In December 2019, he helped the Malaysian team to win a silver medal in the men's team event at the 2019 SEA Games. He and Soh then took part in the men's doubles event and went on to win the gold, beating Bodin Isara and Maneepong Jongjit in the final.

He was also part of Malaysia's men's team that won silver at the 2020 Asia Team Championships in February.

2021: First Olympic bronze

In January, Chia and Soh reached their third BWF World Tour final at the Thailand Open and finished as the runner-ups.

In late July, the duo made their debut appearance in the men's doubles event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. The duo prevailed against Ahsan and Setiawan 17–21, 21–17, 21–14 in the bronze medal playoff, winning bronze for Malaysia.

He was one of the Malaysian players that won bronze at the 2021 Sudirman Cup in late September.

2022: First world title for Malaysia

Chia was part of the Malaysian men's team that won gold at the 2022 Asia Team Championships in February.

In late April, he and Soh entered the 2022 Asian Championships final but were bested by Indonesians Pramudya Kusumawardana and Yeremia Rambitan.

In August, he won a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. He also won a bronze medal in the men's doubles event with Soh, ending his debut campaign with two medals. A few weeks later, Chia and Soh competed at the 2022 World Championships as the sixth seeds. In the final, they defeated three-time world champions Ahsan and Setiawan 21–19, 21–14 to clinch Malaysia's first ever gold medal at the tournament.

2023: First BWF World Tour title

In the first half of 2023, Chia and Soh did not manage to win any of the tournaments they participated in. Their most notable achievements were reaching the finals of India Open in January and Indonesia Open in June. Chia also helped the Malaysian team win a second consecutive bronze medal at the 2023 Sudirman Cup in May.

In August, Chia and Soh were unable to defend their title at the 2023 World Championships. They settled for the bronze medal after losing to the eventual champions, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, in the semi-finals.

They then contested their third final of the year at the China Open in September. However, they went down to Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in straight games.

In October, the pair concluded their debut campaign at the 2022 Asian Games with a bronze medal finish in the men's doubles event. A few weeks later, they triumphed against Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana in the Denmark Open final, finally putting an end to their six-year wait for a BWF World Tour title.

2024: Second All England runner-up finish & second Olympic bronze

In February, Chia won his second silver medal as a part of Malaysia's men's team at the 2024 Asia Team Championships.

In March, he and Soh participated in the All England Open and brought home the silver medals again after surprisingly doing so five years ago in 2019. They lost to Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia after going down with the score of 16–21, 16–21.

In the following month, the pair lost in the semi-finals of the 2024 Asian Championships, securing them a bronze medal.

In early August, he and Soh participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics, their second Olympic appearance. They lost to China's Liang and Wang in the semi-finals 19–21, 21–15, 17–21. In the bronze medal match, he and Soh retained their Olympic bronze medals, defeating Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark in three tight games, 16–21, 22–20, 21–19. With the victory, they became the first-ever Malaysian men's doubles pair to win back-to-back Olympic medals.

In November, Chia and Soh clinched the Korea Masters title, becoming the first Malaysian pair to win the tournament.

2025: Asian Championships title

Chia with his normal partner, Soh started the tour with good starting point, reaching semifinals in the India Open. The next week, they repeated the same feat in Indonesia Masters, beaten by their compatriots, Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun who did go on to win the whole tournament. Although no success in the first three months, Chia and Soh won their first Asian Championships in April, defeating Chen Boyang and Liu Yi of China in their opponent homeground. In May, Chia and Soh maintained their momentum by snatching their first title of the year in Thailand Open in grueling three sets. Chia and Soh made the final of Malaysia Masters but for the second time in a year, lost out to Man and Tee in an all-Malaysian finals bout. On the next week, Chia and Soh surging through their good form and making the final for three straight competition, this time winning the Singapore Open.

Awards

Honours

* Malacca:
** Distinguished Service Star (BCM) (2021)
* Federal Territory:
** Officer of the Order of the Territorial Crown (KMW) (2022)

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Men's doubles''

World Championships

''Men's doubles''

Commonwealth Games

''Men's doubles''

Asian Games

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles''

SEA Games

''Men's doubles''

BWF World Tour (4 titles, 8 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

''Men's doubles''

BWF International Challenge/Series (4 runners-up)

''Men's doubles''

: BWF International Challenge tournament
: BWF International Series tournament
: BWF Future Series tournament

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists. Accurate as of 13 August 2024.

Soh Wooi Yik

Chia and Soh lead the head-to-head record with a wide margin against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty. Meanwhile, they have a poor head-to-head record against Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (2–9), Li Junhui & Liu Yuchen (0–6), Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang (2–8), and also Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi (2–8).

Notes

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chia, Aaron
1997 births
Living people
Badminton players from Malacca
Malaysian sportspeople of Chinese descent
Malaysian male badminton players
Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Badminton players at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Olympic badminton players for Malaysia
Olympic bronze medalists for Malaysia
Olympic medalists in badminton
Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Badminton players at the 2022 Asian Games
Asian Games bronze medalists for Malaysia
Asian Games medalists in badminton
Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games
Badminton players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Malaysia
Commonwealth Games gold medallists in badminton
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Malaysia
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in badminton
Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games
SEA Games gold medalists for Malaysia
SEA Games silver medalists for Malaysia
SEA Games medalists in badminton
21st-century Malaysian sportsmen