KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s doubles pair Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King were made to work hard before booking their spot in the semi-finals of the Madrid Masters earlier this morning.
Facing the challenge of higher-ranked Indian pair M.R. Arjun-K. Dhruv in the quarter-finals, Malaysia’s world number 65 pair were stretched for a rubber set before winning the match in 62 minutes.
The Malaysians held their nerve to wrap up the match 21-19, 21-23, 21-17.
The 2023 Nantes International winners will next play the Popov brothers – Christo and Toma Junior of France – in the semi-finals early tomorrow morning.
The French duo will be favourites as they are ranked higher than Arif-Roy King, at 45 in the world.
Arif and Roy King are also the only Malaysians left in the competition as national men’s singles player Leong Jun Hao was sent home by Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen.
The former world number two player exacted revenge on Jun Hao, who defeated countryman Lin Chun-yi in the second round, swatting aside the challenge of last year’s KL Masters champion 21-16, 21-12 in just 33 minutes.
Toma Junior awaits last week’s Swiss Open runner-up in the semifinals. – March 30, 2024