PETALING JAYA: No more first round blues please!
Men’s doubles pair Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri are hoping for better luck but they will face another uphill task to halt their run of early exits this year after being drawn against world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang of China in the opener of the German Open starting tomorrow.
They have been unlucky in the three tournaments they had competed last month, starting with the Malaysian Open, Indian Open and Indonesian Masters, where they were eliminated in the opening round each time.
As such, Haikal has opted to keep his expectations in check, fully aware that Weikeng-Wang Chang are a formidable combination.
The last time they met was in the first round of the Denmark Open in October last year, which ended in favour of the Chinese pair.
“In terms of our performances in the previous tournaments, I’m not satisfied because we keep losing in the first round.
“So I’m not setting a high target. The main goal is to get past the first round first,” said Haikal.
At the same time, Haikal admitted he still carries a sense of apprehension, worried that his old injury could resurface.
Last year proved to be a challenging period for Hon Jian-Haikal as both players were hit by injuries in turns, causing the 2024 Orleans Masters champions to suffer a dip in both ranking and performance.
“Every time I go into a tournament, of course I want to win, but at the same time I do not want to get injured again.
“There is perhaps a slight fear, although it is not too serious.”
The other Malaysians in the fray are top seeds Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, who will take on Denmark’s William Boe-Andreas Sondergaard, while Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King will face England’s Oliver Butler-Samuel Jones.
Third seeds Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani will meet France’s Mael Cattoen-Lucas Renoir, while Teo Ee Yi-Ong Yew Sin await their opponents from the qualifying rounds.
