Kai Wun-Roy King and Azriyn-Wee Kiong Reach China Masters Semifinals

Malaysia’s experimental pairing of Tee Kai Wun and Yap Roy King continued to grow in confidence by reaching the China Masters semifinals in Guangdong.

The world No. 132 pair defeated Japan’s No. 28 combination, Takumi Nomura and Yuichi Shimogami, 21-13, 19-21, 21-12 in a 56-minute quarterfinal. They will next play China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu, who beat another Malaysian pairing, Soh Wooi Yik and Aaron Tai, 21-16, 17-21, 21-16.

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We just want to play and not think too much because we are the underdogs.

Kai Wun said the pair would approach the semifinal without overthinking the challenge. “We just want to play and not think too much because we are the underdogs,” he told a Badminton World Federation representative.

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This success is a big step for this partnership, and I am happy we managed to fight back in the deciding game.

He said several tournaments together had helped him adjust to the new partnership. Roy King agreed, calling the semifinal place a major step for the pairing and crediting Kai Wun with helping him improve. “This success is a big step for this partnership, and I am happy we managed to fight back in the deciding game,” Roy King said.

Another Malaysian pair, Nur Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong, reached the last four by beating Indonesia’s world No. 7 Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani 21-17, 16-21, 21-19 in 56 minutes. The world No. 29 Malaysians will face India’s fifth-ranked Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in the semifinals.

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Kai Wun has helped improve my game. Before this, I partnered Arif Junaidi.