KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s men’s doubles pair, Wan Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King, created the biggest upset for the national squad today by eliminating fourth-seeded pair Lee Jhe Hui and Yang Po Hsuan from Chinese Taipei at the Malaysia Masters today.
Ranked 47th in the world, Arif-Roy King needed 50 minutes to secure their spot in the quarter-finals after clinching a victory with scores of 13-21, 21-15, 21-18.
Jhe Hui-Po Hsuan became the latest victims of Arif-Roy King’s onslaught, who have been performing exceptionally well this year.
The Malaysian duo had previously defeated higher-ranked pairs, including Christo-Toma Junior Popov (ranked 37th) and M.R. Arjun-Dhruv Kapila (ranked 40th).
Last week at the Thailand Open, they eliminated 24th-ranked pair Lu Ching Yao-Yang Po Han.
Their achievement is particularly remarkable considering Roy King’s recent recovery from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in his left knee, which sidelined him for three months.
“Surely, when we manage to defeat players who ranked higher than us, our confidence in the court grows stronger.
“We have also shown that we can compete with the world’s top 30 players, and hopefully, as our ranking improves, we will have the opportunity to challenge even tougher opponents.
“With that, we can identify our strengths and weaknesses to improve. I can say our current advantage is that I play with my right hand, while Arif is left-handed – so it somewhat confuses opponents in the arena,” said Roy King, who is aiming to break into the world’s top 32 by year’s end.
They have the opportunity to defeat another top world pair when they face Rasmus Kjær-Frederik Søgaard from Denmark in the last quarter-finals tomorrow.
Also advancing to the last eight are Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzudin Rumsani, who defeated Thai pair Teeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 21-17, 21-12.
Meanwhile, the second-seeded pair of the tournament, Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, had no difficulties eliminating Chinese pair Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi by scoring 21-13, 13-21, 21-10. – May 23, 2024