KUALA LUMPUR: The group stage jinx continued to haunt Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik as they crashed out early yet again at the World Tour Finals in Hangzhou today.
Despite losing their first two matches, the door was not entirely shut until Friday's defeat to China's world No. 1 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang, putting paid to their hopes of making it to the semi-finals for the first time in four attempts.
Former world champions Aaron-Wooi Yik went down 18-21, 21-14, 21-12, marking their sixth defeat in seven meetings against Wei Keng-Wang Chang.
Initially, there was a glimmer of hope for Aaron-Wooi Yik to survive the preliminaries after China's Ou Xuan Yi-Liu Yu Chen did them a big favour by powering past Japan's Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi 21-12, 21-17, in a match that ended earlier on the adjacent court.
Needing to win in straight games to pip Wang Chan-Wei Keng to the second spot, Aaron-Wooi Yik put up a spirited display to claim the opening game.
But in the end, it was not meant to be. Aaron-Wooi Yik finished their Group A campaign in fourth spot without a single win.
A dejected Aaron said: "We were focusing on what we wanted to play, but our opponents were the better pair of the day. They're very strong offensively."
Aaron mentioned that he and Wooi Yik will be back on the court after a few days of rest to prepare for the Malaysia Open and make amends.
Aaron-Wooi Yik have now failed to win a single match in both the 2022 and this year's editions combined.
Despite the disappointing campaign, Aaron-Wooi Yik will still take home US$17,500 (RM81,700).
