PETALING JAYA: A lighter shuttler Yap Roy King has set himself a heavy task at the Malaysian Masters.
Roy King, who has lost five kilograms in a short time, is hoping to go far in the men’s doubles event with partner Wan Arif Wan Junaidi despite the latter still nursing a knee injury.
The 25-year-old Roy King believes they have a good opportunity to reach at least the semi-finals after receiving a favourable draw.
His confidence also comes from being in leaner shape after reducing his weight from 78kg to 73kg as part of his own effort to improve his movement on court.
“I decided to slim down after feeling that my previous weight was affecting my speed and mobility during matches,” said Roy King.
“No one asked me to do it. I personally felt my movement on court was slightly slow, so I wanted to reduce my weight.
“I want to see whether this can help improve my game,” he said.
Roy King admitted there are still concerns over Arif’s condition though as his partner only resumed on-court training this week following the injury to his left knee.
“Arif has just returned to training and this is actually his first week back on court,” said Roy King.
“He still needs to wear a knee guard, so we will just see how things go and try our best.
“There is a slight tear in his meniscus and also a minor tear in his PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament).
“It will take some time for him to recover. Based on the draw though, I think we have a fighting chance to go for semis.
The Malaysians are set to face Taiwan’s He Zhi-wei-Huang Jui-hsuan in the opening round.
If they advance, they could face fellow Malaysians Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing, who will take on another Taiwanese pair, Lai Po-yu-Tsai Fu-cheng.
Last year, Roy King-Arif suffered a disappointing first-round exit at the Malaysian Masters after losing to Japan’s Hiroki Midorikawa-Kyohei Yamashita.
