Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King.
PETALING JAYA: A fully fit Wan Arif Wan Junaidi showed that he is ready to face Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Kittinupong Kedren along with Yap Roy King in the second round of the World Championships tomorrow.
Arif had a scare before the world meet after coming down with fever and flu but showed no signs of ill health when he combined superbly with Roy King to beat Japan’s world No. 34 Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura 21-5, 21-13 at the Adidas Arena in Port de la Chapelle in Paris yesterday.
World No. 22 Arif-Roy King, who were making their debuts in the prestigious meet, were impressive throughout the match and came away with the win in just 27 minutes.
The Macau Open champions Arif-Roy King though face a stern test next against world No. 12 Dechapol-Kittinupong for the first time in an international tournament.
Dechapol is one of the most experienced doubles players in the competition and captured the world title in the mixed doubles with Sapsiree Taerattanachai in 2021.
The 28-year-old also proved his capability in the men’s doubles when he won the Swiss Open with Kittinupong in March.
While it will not be an easy match, Arif-Roy King are brimming with confidence after their smashing start and are gunning for an upset.
“This win has given us a confidence boost for the next match. While before this match, we felt nervous, we are relieved now after winning,” said Roy King in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
“As it was our first match in this stadium, we were still adapting to the court conditions. There was a bit of draught on court.
“Thankfully, our strategy worked well in the match. Hopefully, we can get better in our next match.”
Arif said: “We have more self-belief after winning in Macau. We adjusted to the conditions on court well and we are happy to get our first win in the world meet.”
