PETALING JAYA: Young men's doubles pair Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing will have an extra spring in their step when they compete in the Orleans Masters starting on Tuesday (March 17) in France.
The world junior champions have earned the seal of approval from doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi after their strong showings in the back-to-back All-England in Birmingham and Swiss Open in Basel.
Herry gave the boys a pat on their back, praising their ability to compete against higher-ranked opponents on the international stage.
"They did well in the last two Europe tournaments and I hope they can maintain their performance heading into the Orleans Masters," said Herry.
In the All-England, the world No. 27 pair delivered impressive showings by shocking world No. 4 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India in the opening round, before going down fighting to world No. 10 Chen Boyang-Liu Yi of China in the last 16.
"The All-England is a high-level tournament, and Aaron-Khai Xing put on such a good performance there," said the Indonesian coach.
"It was their first time there and they delivered a strong showing by defeating the Indian pair, who are ranked fourth.
"That’s not easy. It’s something even our senior players struggle with."
Aaron-Khai Xing continued their impressive performance at the Swiss Open last week when they upsets Indonesian pairs Rian Ardianto-Rahmat Hidayat and Leo Rolly -Bagas Maulana in the first two rounds before going down to Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard in the quarter-finals.
"In Switzerland, they played consistently and defeated two senior pairs from Indonesia," he added.
In France, the seventh seeds Aaron-Khai Xing will face Russia’s Rodion Alimov-Maksim Ogloblin in the first round.
