Malaysia mixed doubles shuttlers Yap Roy King (back) and Valeree Siow. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: It was a tough outing for doubles shuttler Yap Roy King, who saw both of his campaigns at the Asian Championships end in the second round.
Competing at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center on Thursday (April 10), Roy King first teamed up with Valeree Siow in the mixed doubles against Japan’s eighth seeds, Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito.
However, with Valeree only recently recovering from injury and the duo not having trained together for nearly six months, their lack of chemistry showed on court as they went down 6-21, 16-21.
Just a few hours later, Roy King was back in action. This time partnering Wan Arif Wan Junaidi in the men’s doubles.
Despite facing the tournament’s second seeds and home favourites Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang, Roy King-Arif put up a spirited fight, pushing the Chinese pair to a deciding rubber game.
But their efforts weren’t enough, as the formidable Chinese duo proved too strong, ending the Malaysians’ run with a 21-17, 14-21, 11-21 win after 47 minutes.
