KUALA LUMPUR: The honeymoon period is over for shuttlers Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King as it’s time to taste success.
And men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi is hopeful that Arif-Roy King can finally break their title drought at the German Open starting tomorrow.
After weeks of training, Herry sees strong potential in the pair and has set a semi-final target for them.
“Besides Arif-Roy King, there is also Aaron Tai-Khang Khai Xing in the German meet, but I’m really hoping for Arif-Roy King to reach the semi-finals at least,” said Herry.
“They’ve been performing well in training. I believe Arif-Roy King have a good chance, but we will see how things unfold once the tournament begins.
“As for Aaron-Khai Xing, they are still young and new to Super 300 level tournaments, so they may find it tough against higher-ranked opponents.
Arif-Roy King head to Germany as the third seeds, eager to claim their first title. Several of their national teammates have already tasted success on the international stage.
They came close to breaking their title drought last year but fell short in the Spain Masters final, losing to Indonesia’s Sabar Karyaman-Reza Pahlevi.
Arif-Roy King will kick off their campaign when they face Denmark’s William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer for the first time in the first round.
However, their biggest test is expected in the quarter-finals, where they are likely to face South Korea’s Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho, the seventh seeds.
Seung-jae-Won-ho, who recently reunited as a pair, made headlines earlier this year by clinching the Malaysian Open title.
Meanwhile, Aaron-Khai Xing face a tricky opener against the United States’ Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith, a resilient duo known for stretching matches to rubber games.
The Americans showed their fighting spirit in January when they took Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to three games at the Malaysian Open.
Two others pairs – Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Azriyn Ayub will take on Taiwan’s Lu Ming-che-Tang Kai-wei while Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong meet Scotland’s Christopher Grimley-Matthew Grimley in the first round.
