Soh Wooi Yik (; born 17 February 1998) is a Malaysian

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player. A world champion, an Asian champion and a double bronze medalist at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, he and his partner

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 champion ...

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 The 2019 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 30th Southeast Asian Games, or the 30th SEA Games, and commonly known as Philippines 2019, were the 30th edition of the SEA Games, Southeast Asian Games, a biennial regional multi-sport ...

and 2025 Asian Championships, a silver medal at the 2022 Asian Championships, as well as bronze medals at the

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

and

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

, 2023 World Championships

2022 Asian Games The 2022 Asian Games (), officially the 19th Asian Games () and also known as Hangzhou 2022 ( zh, c=, s=杭州2022, labels=no), were a continental multi-sport event which was held from 23 September to 8 October 2023 in Hangzhou, China. The ...

and 2024 Asian Championships. They are also the first Malaysian men’s doubles pair to win consecutive medals at the Olympic Games.

Background

Soh was born in

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

. He is the son of former Malaysian badminton player Soh Goon Chup. His maternal uncle

Soo Beng Kiang Soo Beng Kiang (, born 19 March 1968) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. Career He had played with different pairs such as Cheah Soon Kit (1990–1994) and Tan Kim Her (1995-1996). Soo competed in badminton at the 1996 Summer O ...

is a former Malaysia badminton player and Olympian and had partnered with

Cheah Soon Kit Datuk Cheah Soon Kit (Current name: / Birth name: ) (born 9 January 1968) is a former Malaysian badminton player and coach. Career Soon Kit was won the Olympic silver with Yap Kim Hock in Atlanta 1996. Before combining with Kim Hock, Soo ...

to help Malaysia win the 1992 Thomas Cup.

Career

He began playing badminton when he was 4. He was selected to play for Kuala Lumpur when he was 7. He later received an offer to study at

Bukit Jalil Sports School The Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) (, SSBJ) is the first sports school in Malaysia. The school is located at the Kompleks Sukan Negara, National Sports Complex compound in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Sekolah Sukan Bukit Jalil was opened in 19 ...

when he was 13.

2012

Soh reached the final of boys' singles and doubles U-15 events at the 2012 Asian Youth Championships and became the runner-up for both events.

2015

In September, Soh partnered

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. In the same month, Soh partnered Ooi Zi Heng and won gold at the 2015

ASEAN School Games ASEAN School Games (ASG) (informally known as the Youth SEA Games) is an annual multi-sport event for secondary schools student athletes in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, commonl ...

. Based on his improved performance, he was drafted to the national back-up squad at the end of the year where he was coached by

2016

In July, Soh and Ooi won the boys' doubles bronze medal at the 2016 Asian Junior Championships after they were defeated by the Chinese pair of

Han Chengkai Han Chengkai (, born 29 January 1998) is a Chinese badminton player. He won the boys' doubles title at the 2016 Asian and World Junior Championships. Han also part of the Chinese team that won the 2019 Tong Yun Kai and Sudirman Cups. Together ...

and

Zhou Haodong Zhou Haodong (, born 20 February 1998) is a Chinese badminton player. Together with his partner Han Chengkai, he was awarded as the 2018 Most Promising Player of the Year by the BWF. He helped the national team win the 2023 Asia Mixed Team Ch ...

in straight games in the semi-finals. In November, he won a silver medal in the mixed team event of the 2016 World Junior Championships after being defeated by China in the final. He then suffered injuries and was not able to compete in the individual event, failing to improve his performance from last year. Despite this, he was still drafted into the national team after the tournament.

2017

Soh played for Petaling BC at the beginning of the year. He partnered

Chen Tang Jie Chen Tang Jie (; born 5 January 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was part of the Malaysian 2016 Asian Junior Championships and 2016 BWF World Junior Championships team, and helped Malaysia to clinch a silver medal in the World Junior ...

and reached the finals of

Malaysia International The Malaysia International is an open international badminton tournament in Malaysia established since 1997. This tournament also known as ''Malaysia Satellite'', ''Malaysia Asian Satellite'', and ''Malaysia International Challenge''. This tourname ...

in July and

Waikato International The Waikato International is an open international badminton tournament in New Zealand. This tournament is held in Waikato. This tournament is classified as BWF International Series tournament since Badminton World Federation (BWF) introduced in 19 ...

in August. In October, Soh was recruited into the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

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

2018

In March, Soh and Chia participated in their second international final at the

Vietnam International The Vietnam International Challenge, formerly Vietnam Satellite and Hanoi International, is an international badminton tournament held in Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edg ...

, 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 Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian retired badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is a three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games go ...

and

Hendra Setiawan Hendra Setiawan (born 25 August 1984) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. He is an Olympic Games gold medalist, four-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time All England champion. With these achievements, Se ...

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

Li Junhui Li Junhui (, born 10 May 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the gold medalist at the 2018 World Championships in the men's doubles event partnered with Liu Yuchen, two times won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in 2017 and 20 ...

and

Liu Yuchen Liu Yuchen ( zh, s=刘雨辰, p=Liú Yǔchén, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018, two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018, and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics p ...

. In November, they reached the final of

SaarLorLux Open The Hylo Open, formerly known as the BMW Badminton Cup, BMW Open International, Bitburger Masters, Bitburger Open and SaarLorLux Open, is an international badminton tournament held at the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken, Germany, since 1988. It was ...

but went down to

Marcus Ellis Marcus Ellis (born 14 September 1989) is a British badminton player. He was the men's doubles champion in the English National Championships. Ellis and Chris Langridge won a bronze medal in the Badminton at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's dou ...

and

Chris Langridge Christopher Phillip Langridge (born 2 May 1985) is a retired British badminton player. He competed for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he won three medals. He represented Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and won a bronze ...

in three games.

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

In March 2019, Soh and Chia participated in the

All England Open The All England Open Badminton Championships is the world's oldest badminton tournament, held annually in England. With the introduction of the BWF's latest grading system, it was given Super Series status in 2007, upgraded to Super Series Premie ...

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 Chia then took part in the men's doubles event and went on to win the gold, beating

Bodin Isara Bodin Isara (born 12 December 1990) is badminton player and Rattana Bundit University's student from Thailand. He competed for Thailand at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Maneepong Jongjit but was defeated in the quarterfinals by Malaysia's Koo ...

and

Maneepong Jongjit Maneepong Jongjit (, ; born 21 March 1991) is a Thai badminton player. He studies at Ratna Bundit University. Career Maneepong Jongjit began to attract attention when he competed as a junior with Bodin Isara in men's doubles. Together they m ...

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, Soh and Chia 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 officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. 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 The 2021 Sudirman Cup (officially known as the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2021 for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th edition of the Sudirman Cup, the biennial international badminton championship contested by the mixed national teams ...

in late September.

2022: First world title for Malaysia

Soh was part of the Malaysian men's team that won gold at the 2022 Asia Team Championships in February. In late April, he and Chia entered the 2022 Asian Championships final but were bested by Indonesians

Pramudya Kusumawardana Pramudya Kusumawardana Riyanto (born 13 December 2000) is an Indonesian-Australian badminton player. He was a men's doubles gold medalists at the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships, 2022 Asian Championships and Badminton at the 2023 SEA Games, 202 ...

and

Yeremia Rambitan Yeremia Erich Yotje Yacob Rambitan (born 15 October 1999) is an Indonesian badminton player, who also plays for Exist Jakarta in the national event. He won the gold medals at the 2022 Asian Championships and 2023 SEA Games. In his young age, Ra ...

. 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 Chia, ending his debut campaign with two medals. A few weeks later, Soh and Chia 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, Soh and Chia did not manage to win any of the tournaments they participated in. Their most notable achievements were reaching the finals of

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

in January and Indonesia Open in June. Soh also helped the Malaysian team win a second consecutive bronze medal at the

2023 Sudirman Cup The 2023 Sudirman Cup (officially known as the TotalEnergies BWF Sudirman Cup Finals 2023 for sponsorship reasons) was the 18th edition of the Sudirman Cup, the biennial international badminton championship contested by the mixed national teams o ...

in May. In August, Soh and Chia 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 Kang Min-hyuk (; born June 28, 1991), also known mononymously as Minhyuk, is a South Korean musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. He is the drummer of South Korean rock band CNBLUE. Career 2009–present: CNBLUE Kang became a member of C ...

and

Seo Seung-jae Seo Seung-jae (; born 4 September 1997) is a South Korean badminton player. He is the first South Korean player in 24 years to have won two gold medals in a single edition of the BWF World Championships, by winning the mixed and men's doubles e ...

, in the semi-finals. They then contested their third final of the year at the

China Open China Open may refer to: *China Open (snooker), a professional snooker tournament *China Open (tennis), a professional tennis tournament on the ATP World Tour and WTA Tour *China Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament * China Open (squash) ...

in September. However, they went down to

Liang Weikeng Liang Weikeng (; born 30 November 2000) is a Chinese badminton player. He was part of Chinese winning team at the 2023 Sudirman Cup, and at the same year won the men's doubles bronze medal at the BWF World Championships partnered with Wang Chan ...

and Wang Chang in straight games. In October, the pair concluded their debut campaign at the

with a bronze medal finish in the men's doubles event. A few weeks later, they triumphed against

Muhammad Shohibul Fikri Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (born 16 November 1999) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with SGS PLN Bandung club. Career In 2018, Fikri teamed-up with Bagas Maulana, finished as runner-up at the Indonesia International. He and his partn ...

and

Bagas Maulana Bagas Maulana (born 20 July 1998) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Djarum club. Career In the junior event, Maulana won a boys' doubles Junior Grand Prix title in 2016 partnered with Muhammad Fachrikar. In 2018, Maulana team ...

in the

Denmark Open The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Badminton Denmark. The Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier from 2011 to 2017. BWF categorised it as one ...

final, finally putting an end to their six-year wait for a first BWF World Tour title.

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

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

and brought home the silver medals again after surprisingly doing so five years ago in 2019. They lost to

Fajar Alfian Fajar Alfian (born 7 March 1995) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with the SGS PLN Bandung. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games, the bronze medals at the 2017 SEA Games, 2019 and 2022 World Championships. H ...

and

Muhammad Rian Ardianto Muhammad Rian Ardianto (born 13 February 1996) is an Indonesian badminton player. Born in Bantul, Yogyakarta SR, Ardianto plays for the Jaya Raya Jakarta club at national events. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games, th ...

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 Chia participated in the

, 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 Chia retained their Olympic bronze medals, defeating

Kim Astrup Kim Astrup Sørensen (born 6 March 1992) is a Danish badminton player. He was the men's doubles gold medalists at the 2018 European Championships and the 2023 European Games with his partner Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. He also won the bronze medal ...

and

Anders Skaarup Rasmussen Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (born 15 February 1989) is a Danish badminton player. Rasmussen won the men's doubles title at the 2018 European Championships and at the 2023 European Games partnered with Kim Astrup. He also won the bronze medal at th ...

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, Soh and Chia clinched the

Korea Masters The Korea Masters () is an international badminton tournament that usually held in November or December every year of BWF event calendar in South Korea. The total prize money in 2016 was US$120,000. Before 2010, the level of the tournament was an ...

title, becoming the first Malaysian pair to win the tournament.

2025: Asian Championships title

Soh with his normal partner, Chia started the tour with good starting point, reaching semifinals in the

. The next week, they repeated the same feat in

Indonesia Masters The Indonesia Masters is an international badminton tournament in BWF World Tour Super 500. Formerly known as the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold, it was first held in 2010 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and change its venue in different cities ev ...

, beaten by their compatriots,

Man Wei Chong Man Wei Chong (; born 5 September 1999) is a Malaysian badminton player who specializes in doubles event. He was one of the compatriots of the Malaysian squad that won the silver medals at the 2016 and 2017 BWF World Junior Championships. Car ...

and

Tee Kai Wun Tee Kai Wun (; born on 17 April 2000) is a Malaysian badminton player. He helped Malaysia win a silver medal in the 2017 BWF World Junior Championships mixed team event. Career 2017–2019 In 2017, he won a silver medal at the 2017 BWF Worl ...

who did go on to win the whole tournament. Although no success in the first three months, Soh and Chia won their first

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

in April, defeating

Chen Boyang Chen Boyang (; born 6 May 2000) is a Chinese badminton player. Partnering Liu Yi, they won a silver medal in the 2025 Asian Championships. He won his first senior title at the Vietnam International Series in 2022 with his partner Liu Yi. C ...

and Liu Yi of China in their opponent homeground. In May, Soh and Chia maintained their momentum by snatching their first title of the year in Thailand Open in grueling three sets. Soh and Chia made the final of

Malaysia Masters The Malaysia Masters () is an annual badminton tournament held in Malaysia that began in 2009. The total prize money is currently US$475,000. Until 2017, the tournament was part of the Grand Prix Gold series. BWF categorised 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, Soh and Chia surging through their good form and making the final for three straight competition, this time winning the Singapore Open.

Awards

Honours

* Federal Territory (Malaysia) : ** Officer of the

Order of the Territorial Crown Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * H ...

(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''

Asian Junior Championships

''Boys' 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 The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(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 (5 runners-up)

''Men's doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF Future Series The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

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.

Aaron Chia

Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Chia lead the head-to-head record against

Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (born 13 August 2000) is an Indian badminton player. Together with his men's doubles partner Chirag Shetty, he won the gold medal at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Championships. They are the only Indian ...

and

Chirag Shetty Chirag Chandrashekhar Shetty (born 4 July 1997) is an Indian badminton player. Partnering Satwiksairaj Rankireddy in the men's doubles, he emerge victorius in the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Championships. They are the only Ind ...

. Meanwhile, Chia and Soh have a poor head-to-head record against

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 9 March 1991) is an Indonesian former badminton player who was ranked world No. 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation alongside Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. He plays for PB Jaya Raya, and has been a mem ...

and

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (born 2 August 1995) is an Indonesian former badminton player who was ranked world number 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. Considered as one of the best players of his generation, he won the men' ...

(2–9),

(0–6),

and Wang Chang (2–8), and also

Takuro Hoki is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami team. He was the men's doubles silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships and the men's doubles gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships, being first ever Japanese men's doubles ...

and

Yugo Kobayashi is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami team. He was the men's doubles silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships and the men's doubles gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships, being first ever Japanese men's double ...

(2–8).

Notes

References

External links

* * * *
Soh Wooi Yik
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soh, Wooi Yik 1998 births Living people Badminton players from Kuala Lumpur 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 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics 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 Badminton players at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games bronze medalists for Malaysia Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2022 Asian 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