PETALING JAYA: There will be no more double duty for shuttler.
Hon Jian is set to end his partnership in the mixed doubles with Go Pei Kee and focus solely on the men’s doubles with Mohd Haikal Nazri.
The 24-year-old believes this will prove beneficial for his partnership with Haikal.
“I will be focusing on one event only after this. I think this is better for me and my partnership with Haikal,” said Hon Jian after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
Hon Jian and Pei Kee formed a permanent partnership in the beginning of last year and reached No. 43 in the latest rankings.
Hon Jian has been performing much better in the men’s doubles with Haikal with the pair currently ranked No. 19 in the world.
Hon Jian and Haikal only needed a year to break into the top 20 after combining in August last year.
The pair captured the back-to-back Syed Modi International and Indian Masters at the end of 2023 and continued their good form this year by winning the Orleans Masters in March.
Hon Jian-Haikal also reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open in June.
Their speedy rise up the ranks saw them qualify for World Tour Super 750 and 1000 tournaments this year.
Hon Jian-Haikal, though, have found it tougher in the higher tier events and suffered early round defeats in their last three outings in the Japan, Korean and China Opens.
Hon Jian has since picked up a hip injury that has ruled him along with Haikal out of the Arctic Open from Oct 8-13 in Finland.
“I injured my hip in training about two weeks ago and had to withdraw from the Arctic Open,” said Hon Jian.
“I hope to recover and return to court as soon as possible.”
Meanwhile, Haikal admitted that the pair still had lots of work to do to close the gap to the world’s top pairs.
“We just started playing in higher tier competitions this year and our standard is still far behind the top pairs,” said Haikal.
“Although we lost in the early rounds in the top tournaments, we have gained valuable experience playing against world class pairs and we now know where we stand.
“While I wait for Hon Jian to fully recover, I will use this time to analyse my game and improve myself.”
