KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s doubles player Muhammad Haikal Nazri (pix) revealed that he had intended to leave the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) after being stuck looking for a new partner following his ‘breakup’ with Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, last year.
Recalling that moment, Muhammad Haikal said he was a little depressed facing the situation besides being jealous of seeing some of his teammates win titles at the tournament they participated in.
“When I see others becoming champions I asked what about me? At that time I felt like a mess because I didn’t have a partner… a little stressed, sometimes I felt like leaving BAM,“ he said when met after a training session, here recently.
The 21-year-old player who was previously partnered with Wan Muhammad Arif Wan Junaidi began forming a partnership with Nur Izzuddin, in March last year.
Muhammad Haikal-Nur Izzuddin only lasted a month after playing in three tournaments with the best achievement being the runner-up in the Vietnam International Challenge after losing to the Chinese pair Chen Bo Yang-Liu Yi, 16-21, 21-19, 16-21, also in March .
Nur Izzuddin then returned to partner with Goh Sze Fei since May last year.
In the meantime, Muhammad Haikal said words of encouragement from his family and Nur Izzuddin made him withdraw his desire to leave the country’s badminton governing body.
“I also thought of my family in the village, even Nur Izzuddin used to advise me (to stay at BAM) besides questioning why I wanted to leave because I am still young,“ he said.
The Kelantan-born player said the decision to be with his latest partner, Choong Hon Jian, was made after being suggested by the national men’s doubles head coach, Tan Bin Shen.
Although it was only formed four months ago, Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal proved that their partnership was fruitful by winning two championships within a week in India, last month.
The world’s 52nd-ranked pair clinched their maiden title, shocking the world’s 14th-ranked pair, Akira Koga-Taichi Saito of Japan, 18-21, 21-18, 21-16 at the Syed Modi International Championship India 2023
They then maintained their winning streak by defeating the Taiwanese doubles Lin Bing Wei-Su Ching Heng, 21-17, 23-21 to become the Guwahati Masters 2023 champions.
Asked about their goals this season, Muhammad Haikal hopes to break into the top 20 men’s doubles group in the world in addition to showing consistency by reaching at least the quarter-finals in every tournament he participates in.
“For the short term, I hope to get into the top 32 because I can play big tournaments. “The reason is that when we play there, we can gather experience playing with the best partners in the world, which in turn increases our confidence,“ he said.
Muhammad Haikal-Hon Jian are scheduled to open the 2024 campaign by playing at the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta from January 23 to 28. –Bernama
