SEPANG: Men's doubles Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik want to break their semi-final jinx at the World Championships in Tokyo on Aug 22-28.
In total, the world No 6 have crashed out in six semi-finals this year, including at the recent Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
When met at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here today, Aaron said: "I don't know what else to say but I really hope we will break our semi-final jinx at the World Championships this year.
"We've made too many semi-finals this season, but we can't seem to cross that hurdle.
"At the Commonwealth Games, we did well in the mixed team event but once again, we lost in the individual semi-finals. We're disappointed because we had targeted gold."
At the world meet this year, the sixth seeded Aaron-Wooi Yik are slated to face compatriots Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin in the last 16 barring any upsets. Both pairs have received first-round byes.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, bronze medallists at last year's Tokyo Olympics, are not too worried with the draw. In fact, Aaron believes he and his partner stand a good chance for a podium finish.
"The draw looks okay. I believe we have a good chance to even win a medal.
"But like I said earlier, we need to find a solution to our semi-final woes. If we can clear that hurdle, I'm sure we can achieve greater success," added Aaron.
Other notable pairs in the bottom half of the draw are defending champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan and reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan.
The other Malaysians in the fray are last year's semi-finalists Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, and Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong.
