PETALING JAYA: Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King have the potential to become one of the world’s top men’s doubles pairs, but they must first stop doubting themselves.
National doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky praised Arif-Roy King’s performance despite their failure to reach the Malaysian Masters final after losing to Denmark’s Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard in the semi-finals.
Despite the disappointment, Rexy believes Arif-Roy King are capable of producing even better performances and should not feel intimidated when taking on opponents who appear stronger on paper.
He pointed to their victory over world No. 7 pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani in the Macau Open final last year as proof of their ability.
“If you look at Arif and Roy, they have already proven themselves by winning at Super 300 level, and they even beat Sabar-Reza in the final.
“That shows they have the ability and capability to compete at Super 500 level as well.
“What I told Arif and Roy King is that they need to think bigger and have more confidence when playing at Super 500 level because they have shown before that they can reach the semi-finals here, and this time they did it again.
“From what I saw, their performances from the first round until the semi-finals were better than in the previous two or three tournaments.
“That is what I hope for from Arif and Roy. They need to have a bigger mindset and more belief when playing in Super 500 tournaments and above,’ said Rexy.
Arif-Roy King had also reached the semi-finals of the Malaysian Masters in 2024, but ironically, their run was also ended by a Danish pair, Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Arif-Roy King will have a chance to bounce back from last week’s disappointment when they face Japan’s Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami in the first round of the Singapore Open.
They last met the world No. 30 pair in the opening round of the Malaysian Open in January, where they lost.
