PETALING JAYA: The men’s doubles shuttlers, led by national No. 1 Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, will have one last chance in the Asian Championships next week to battle it out for spots in the Sudirman Cup from April 27-May 4 in Xiamen, China.
World No. 2 and top seeds Sze Fei-Izzuddin, along with world No. 6 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun (No. 8) and Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi (No. 18), will be fighting for two places in the mixed team meet.
The pairs are out to make amends in the Asian tourney from April 8-13 in Ningbo, China, after a poor showing in the prestigious All-England in Birmingham last month where none made it past the early rounds.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin and Aaron-Wooi Yik hold the advantage in the selection for the Sudirman Cup as both pairs have experience competing in the team event.
Wei Chong-Kai Wun and Roy King-Arif, though, can put themselves in contention to be included with a good showing in Ningbo.
The former should have no problems getting past the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) Dev Ayyappan-Dhiren Ayyappan in their opening match before a possible meeting against Indonesia’s All-England runners-up Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana in the second round.
Roy King-Arif, who will be making their debuts in the tourney, also have a favourable first round match against Singapore’s Wesley Koh-Junsuke Kubo but could face a tough challenge in the second round against China’s world No. 3 and defending champions Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
Meanwhile, last year’s runners-up and Indian Open champions Sze Fei-Izzuddin have to be on their toes right from the start when they open their campaign against Japan’s 2021 world champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi.
If the independent pair manage to overcome Hoki-Kobayashi, they will likely play Thailand’s Swiss Open champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Kittinupong Kedren for a place in the quarter-finals.
Aaron-Wooi Yik, who came second to Indonesia’s Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan in the 2022 edition, will take on Japan’s world No. 24 Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura in the first round.
For the record, Malaysia have had a finalist in the men’s doubles in the past three editions with Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi making it to the title match in 2023 but no pair has won the competition for the country since Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah captured the crown in 2006 and 2007.
