KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s latest men’s doubles combination, Yap Roy King and Aaron Tai, took their semi-final exit at the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany.
Hoping to extend their impressive run on the European swing that began with Super 500 Arctic Open triumph four weeks ago, world No. 42 Aaron-Roy King were beaten 18-21, 21-15, 21-18 by Danish world No. 26 Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer in 59 minutes on Saturday.
Playing for the first time as a pair, the enterprising Aaron-Roy King upset Indonesian world No. 7 Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani and 15th-ranked defending champions Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi Lin of Taiwan en route to the semi-finals before their heartbreaking exit.
“Not our day but we gave it our all. On to the next one…,” wrote Roy King on his Instagram account after the agonising defeat.
“Great to have you, kid (Aaron). Let’s go again.”
The soft-spoken Aaron appreciated Roy King’s gesture by reposting his partner’s message on his Instagram.
Despite competing in their fourth tournament in as many weeks in Europe, Aaron-Roy King gave their Danish opponents everything they had before eventually losing in a closely contested match.
The Malaysians had beaten the same Danish pair in the semi-finals of the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, but could not repeat the feat this time.
National men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi praised their efforts, reminding that they were still in the early stages of their partnership, having competed in only four tournaments together.
“They are still in the process of developing their partnership. They have only recently started playing together in tournaments, and these European legs of the World Tour are an important part of that process,” said Herry.
“It is understandable that there are still weaknesses and areas that need improvement.
“They need more time and competition experience together to build their understanding, improve their coordination and establish better consistency.
“Tiredness is not an issue as they are young and used to such schedules.”
Their defeat marked the end of Malaysia’s campaign as mixed doubles world No. 24 Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing bowed out with a 22-20, 16-21, 21-17 defeat in the last four to French world champions Thom Gicquel-Delphine Delrue on Saturday.
Aaron-Roy King will get a well-deserved break next week as they will skip the Super 500 Korea Open, which begins in Yeosu City on Tuesday.
They will return to action at the Kumamoto Masters in Japan from Nov 10-15.