2 days ago
Roy King-Arif hoping to shine in Macau Open
Malaysia men's doubles shuttlers Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King celebrates after winning over Taiwan's Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan during the second round of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil on Thursday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Men's doubles shuttlers Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi have an opportunity to make their mark when they compete in the World Tour Super 300 Macau Open which starts today.
Roy King-Arif, who are currently ranked No. 24 in the world, have struggled for consistency this year and suffered first-round exits in the back-to-back Japan Open and China Open over the last two weeks after losing to world No. 7 teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun both times.
The pair's best result this year is a semi-final finish in the Orleans Masters in March.
Roy King-Arif will be keen to do better in Macau where they are seeded fourth.
The duo though will face a stern challenge for the title from Indonesia's world No. 8 Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza and India's world No. 12 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty, who are seeded first and second respectively.
Before that, the Malaysians have a tricky opening test against China's Ren Xiangyu-Sun Wenjun.
Roy King-Arif's best result so far in their careers is a runners-up finish in the Spain Masters which was also a Super 300 event last year.
