PETALING JAYA: It may still be too early to get carried away over Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King, but their success at the Arctic Open this week has certainly caught the eye.
Few expected the newly formed pair to go this far in their first tournament together, but they capped a dream week in Vantaa by beating Taiwan’s Lai Po-yu-Tsai Fu-cheng 21-19, 21-19 in just 41 minutes in yesterday’s final.
The victory handed Aaron-Roy King their first title in their first outing as a pair.
Aaron-Roy King are still an experimental pairing, formed as part of the men’s doubles reshuffle carried out by head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi in his search for stronger combinations within the national squad.
But their performances in Vantaa have shown enough promise to suggest the partnership could develop into another strong option for Malaysia if given the time to grow.
Meanwhile, Denmark’s Anders Antonsen lived up to expectations by winning the men’s singles title yesterday, although he was made to work hard before overcoming Japan’s Yushi Tanaka 16-21, 21-16, 27-25 in the final.
It was the Dane’s second title of the year after winning the Thailand Open in May.
There was an upset in the women’s singles final as second seed Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand went down 17-21, 13-21 to Denmark’s Mia Blichfeldt.
There was no surprise in the mixed doubles, with China’s Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin taking the title after beating compatriots Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying 21-18, 21-16.
