Aaron Chia

One of the best badminton doubles players in the world, Aaron Chia is the 2022 world champion in the men’s doubles discipline with partner Soh Wooi Yik. The Malaysian shuttler represented his country in the 2018 Thomas Cup, and won the Southeast Asian games gold medal in 2019 with Soh. The talented duo partnered up at the men’s doubles event at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, defeating Indonesian pair Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan 17–21, 21–17, 21–14 in the bronze medal playoff to take home the bronze medal for Malaysia. At the start of 2023 Chia and Soh had soared to No 2 in the Men’s Doubles world rankings.

Born in the small town of Batu Berendam to Malaysia Chinese parents, Chia was just four years old when he followed his father to a badminton court and began to play. By the time he was 11 he was representing the state of Melaka, and at 14 he entered the prestigious Bukit Jalil Sports School (SSBJ) and began training with the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM). In 2015 the talented shuttler was chosen to join the Malaysia National Team and three years later he represented his country at the Thomas Cup. Chia’s successful partnership with Soh resulted in Malaysia’s first-ever gold in the World Championships when the duo stormed to victory in the final in 2022.