PETALING JAYA: Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King have let slip a golden opportunity to reach their maiden final.
The national men’s doubles pair, who were only competing in their third tournament together after being paired last month, squandered a 10-5 lead in the third game against Indonesia’s Alfian Eko-Ade Yusuf to lose 15-21, 21-18, 16-21 in the last four of the Vietnam International Challenge in Hanoi yesterday.
Despite the defeat, it was still Arif-Roy King’s best outing so far after going down in the second round and quarter-finals of the recent Thailand International Challenge and China Masters respectively.
The duo were also Malaysia’s best performers in Hanoi as the rest had been eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Roy King, who also played in the mixed doubles with Valeree Siow, had lost out 29-30, 21-15, 12-21 in the last eight to Thailand’s Tanupat Viriyangkura-Ornnicha Jongathapornparn.
Meanwhile, it was a disappointing outing for another new pair and China Masters runners-up Mohd Haikal Nazri-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who fell 19-21, 14-21 in the qualifying round to Taiwan’s Chiang Chien-wei-Wu Hsuen-yi.
Thailand International Challenge runners-up Goh Sze Fei-Choong Hon Jian also could not continue their good form when they went down fighting 9-21, 21-19, 20-22 to South Korea’s Jin Yong-Na Sung-seung in the quarter-finals.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Le Duc Phat (Vie) bt Chan Yik Chak (Hkg) 22-20, 21-18; Takuma Obayashi (Jpn) bt Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) 21-16, 19-21, 13-5, (ret).
Men’s doubles: Jin Yong-Na Sung-seung (Kor) bt Ming Che-lu-Tang Kai-wei (Tpe) 21-15, 18-21, 21-15; Alfian Eko-Ade Yusuf (Ina) bt Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King (Mas) 21-15, 18-21, 21-16.
Women’s singles: Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) bt Hirari Mizui (Jpn) 16-21, 21-16, 21-19; Asuka Takahashi (Jpn) bt Lin Hsiang-ti (Tpe) 21-17, 21-19.
Women’s doubles: Jesita Putri-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) bt Hsieh Pei-shan-Tseng Yu-chi (Tpe) 21-17, 21-16; Lee Yu-lim-Shin Seung-chan (Kor) bt Hinata Suzuki-An Uesugi (Jpn) 21-9, 15-21, 21-10.
Mixed doubles: Jafar Hidayatullah-Aisyah Salsabila (Ina) bt Kim Young-hyuk-Lee Yu-lim (Kor) 10-21, 21-17, 21-16; Tanupat Viriyangkura-Ornnicha Jongathapornparn (Tha) bt Chang Tak Ching-Lui Lok Lok (Hkg) 22-20, 17-21, 21-17.
