PETALING JAYA: Never mind the heavy burden on his shoulders – Yap Roy King wants to achieve equal success in the men’s and mixed doubles.
The National Championships saw Roy King achieving his first doubles success where the Muar-born player partnered Wan Arif Wan Junaidi to win the men’s doubles crown and clinched the mixed doubles title with Valeree Siow at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
The mixed doubles final took place first where Roy King-Valeree beat fellow Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) pair Choong Hon Jian-Go Pei Kee 21-19, 21-18.
Roy King also won the mixed doubles final with Valeree Siow. — S.S. KANESAN / The Star
He returned to the court for the men’s doubles final after a two-hour break and partnered Arif to overcome independent pair Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong 21-17, 21-12 for the title.
Roy King, the only player yesterday to secure a double, was happy to have won both titles and was grateful to have an understanding partner in Arif for working extra hard to cover for him in the men’s doubles.
“I’m happy to win both titles and although it’s not easy to play in two events, I am used to it. I will continue to focus on both events as long as I can,” said Roy King.
“I am glad to have a partner who is willing to provide additional cover and Arif did a lot of work to ensure we managed to win the men’s doubles title.
“So far, I have no problems playing in two events and for me, both events are equally important.
“I will always work hard to win both events in a tournament and will keep working hard to maintain my fitness level to perform well.
“Today’s (yesterday’s) titles have also given me the boost that I can continue doing this and I have not given a timeframe on how long I will continue doing this.”
High-endurance man: Yap Roy King (left) and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi pose with their prizes after winning the men’s doubles title at the National Championships.
Roy King-Arif had only started partnering each other in March, following a men’s doubles reshuffle, and have already won the men’s title at the Nantes International Challenge in France last month.
Arif also thanked Roy King for agreeing to become his partner after his partnership was broken up during the reshuffle.
It was done to accommodate BAM No. 2 Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, who split due to a lack of trust, and the latter was combined with Haikal.
However, Sze Fei and Izzuddin decided to bury the hatchet and have since returned to partner each other again last month.
However, Arif did not lose his faith in Roy King despite many predicting the Kemaman-born player would be reunited with Haikal.
“I am grateful to Roy King as he is the one who wanted to partner me during the reshuffle and I want to stick to this combination. Change of partners is only an option if decided by the coaches,” said Arif.
“Although Roy King plays in two events, he has never failed to give his best in both events.
“He is serious during matches and will not hesitate to chide me if I keep making mistakes. However, it’s nothing personal as he means well and also helps me to be focused.
“I also work harder to try and cover him because of his heavy load. We have a good understanding and I believe our combination can go a long way.
“The title is a good motivation to do well on the international stage and keep improving our world ranking also.”
The duo will have the next five weeks to focus on training before returning to competition at the Indonesia International Challenge in Medan from Aug 29-Sept 3.
Their current progress means they are also set to play in three super 100 tournaments - the Indonesia Masters in Medan (Sept 5-10), Vietnam Open (Sept 12-17) and the Kaohsiung Masters (Sept 26-Oct 1) which should help Roy King-Arif improve their current world ranking of No. 85.
