Syafiq-Aifa better prepared against India’s top mixed pair

PETALING JAYA: Mixed doubles may not be their cup of tea but Syafiq Kamal-Aifa Azman are bent on overcoming favourites Harinder Pal Sandhu-Dipika Pallikal of India and possibly fellow Malaysians Ivan Yuen-Rachel Arnold in order to secure gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou.

Syafiq-Aifa have been seeded second in the mixed doubles, which is being held for the first time at the Asiad, while Harinder-Dipika and Ivan-Rachel are the top and third seeds respectively.

At the Asian Mixed Championships in Hangzhou in May, Syafiq-Aifa lost to Harinder-Dipika in the semi-finals.

According to the Asiad draw, Syafiq-Aifa should clear Group B easily to reach the quarter-finals and they are expected to meet the Indian pair in the final.

“Our main objective is to avoid playing Harinder-Dipika in the quarter-finals. So we need to top our group to have an easier draw in the knock-out stage,” said Aifa.

“We did not have much practice before the Asian Mixed but we are better prepared for the Asiad. We obviously want to win. That’s our target.”

Syafiq agreed.

“We also have a chance against Harinder-Dipika if we play them again and our defeat at the Asian Mixed was because they were better tactically.

“However, we have been doing a lot of video analysis and have been improving on our tactics and communication on court.”

Syafiq said that all four seeds including fourth seeds Abhay Singh-Anahat Singh of India are almost on equal terms and they need to take their chances well to go all the way. Syafiq believes Ivan-Rachel will not be easy to beat if they are drawn to meet each other in the semi-finals.

“We train together and know each other’s games well and we have to be on top of our game in order to reach the final.