National men’s doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in action against Taiwan's Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han in the second round match of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Thursday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Indonesian men's doubles shuttlers Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri are set to pose a threat to Malaysia after earning a shot at a permanent partnership.
Fajar-Shohibul, who only combined last month, stunned several top pairs including Malaysia's world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik to win the China Open title last month.
Their impressive form has persuaded Indonesia's men's doubles coach Antonius Budi Ariantho to combine them again after the Hong Kong Open next month.
Before that, Fajar will compete with his usual partner Rian Ardianto in the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris and the Hong Kong tourney from Sept 9-14.
Meanwhile, Rian will be tried out with Yeremia Rambitan after the tournament in Hong Kong.
Initially, Fajar was combined with Shohibul after the latter's usual partner Daniel Marthin underwent knee surgery and needed time to recover.
Daniel can now only fully recover and return to action next year.
"I'm experimenting with a few partnerships until Daniel is able to return to competitions in January next year," said Antonius in an interview posted in the Indonesian National Badminton Association (PBSI) website.
"So, from September to December, I will observe the new partnerships and try to come up with the best permanent pairings.
"I want to see if Fajar-Fikri can remain consistent in high level tournaments."
The reshuffle is understandable as no Indonesian men's doubles pair had won a World Tour title this year until Fajar-Shohibul broke the duck in China.
In contrast, Fajar has struggled to produce his best form with Rian this year.
The world No. 4 duo's best result was finishing runners-up in the Indonesian Masters in January.
Fajar-Rian will be hoping for better fortunes in the world meet where they will be joined by world No. 8 Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza and world No. 10 Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana.
Indonesia's last world champions in the men's doubles were Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan, who captured the title in 2019 in Basel.
