UP-AND-COMING national men’s doubles pair Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King went down 13-21, 19-21 to second seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skraarup Rasmussen of Denmark in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Masters 2024 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil here today.
Although the world number 47 Malaysians were sent packing in 43 minutes, they can still be proud of what they have achieved in the Super 500 badminton championships after disposing of several seeded pairs en route to reaching the last four.
Roy King, 23, said although they are not satisfied with their performance, especially the many unforced errors they committed in the second game, they will not wallow in self-pity as they look forward to their next assignment - the 2024 Australian Open in Sydney on June 11-16.
“I feel that you cannot compare us (with the seniors) based on this one tournament but (having been the only pair to reach the semi-finals), I feel that it’s a healthy competition for the men’s doubles camp as we continuously push each other to get better results,” he told reporters here today.
Meanwhile, Wan Arif, 21, hopes they can be more consistent in defeating the big names and stay free from injuries.
He also wants them to be bolder when making decisions during crucial points against higher-ranked pairs.
“Having reached the semi-finals here, I want us to set the same target in upcoming tournaments. I think we did well in this tournament as we managed to give a good fight to players in the top 10 and top 20... it shows we are not too far behind them. We learnt from them how to control the rhythm during crucial points,” he said.
Wan Arif-Roy King can certainly look back at the Malaysia Masters 2024 with pride, having defeated China’s Xie Hao Nan-Zeng Wei Han 21-16, 21-12 in the opening round; world number four Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan of Taiwan 13-21, 21-15, 21-18 in the second round; and sixth seeds Rasmus Kjaer-Frederick Soogard of Denmark 21-18, 14-21, 21-18 in yesterday’s quarter-finals.
