This is Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik's first World Tour event since June, when they were split for experimental pairings. (EPA Images pic)PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who were split for four months, returned to the World Tour badminton scene with a hard-fought win over top Japanese pair Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi in the first round of the Denmark Open.

World No 4 Aaron-Wooi Yik took 51 minutes to overcome their eighth-ranked rivals 21-19, 14-21, 21-11 at the SJF Bank Arena in Odense, Denmark, in the World Tour Super 750 championships early this morning.

Aaron-Wooi Yik were split by the Badminton Association of Malaysia in June as part of an experiment to find new combinations ahead of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.