PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi’s good run in the Hong Kong Open ended after they went down fighting to India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty in the men’s doubles quarter-finals.
Roy King-Arif pushed the World Championships bronze medallists hard before losing 14-21, 22-20, 16-21 in a thrilling 64-minute match at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon on Friday (Sept 12).
It was the world No. 20 pair’s second defeat to world No. 9 Satwiksairaj-Chirag after also coming second best to the latter in the Thailand Open last year.
Despite exiting the tournament, Roy King-Arif can hold their heads high after an encouraging outing.
The pair notably stunned Denmark’s world No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the first round.
Roy King-Arif’s defeat meant that Malaysia’s challenge in the men’s doubles in the competition is over.
