Madrid: Malaysia’s World No. 65 Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King caused an upset on Friday at the 2024 Spain Masters badminton tournament. The duo defeated the World No. 43 Indian pair of M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila in a thrilling quarter-final match.
Highlights of Arif Junaidi and Yap Roy King vs. M.R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila in the 2024 Spain Masters quarter-finals:
To reach the quarterfinals, the pair had to play an exhausting match against the pair of Lu Chen and Po-Li Wei from Chinese Taipei whom they narrowly edged out in an 18-21, 21-15, and 24-22 victory. Following their close match, they managed to advance to quarterfinals and then the Malaysian pair managed to best the seemingly superior Indian pair in an exciting match, defeating them in an upset of 21-19, 21-23, and 21-17.
This win propels Junaidi and Yap into the semi-finals of the BWF Super 300 tournament. However, it won’t be easy for them to make it to the finals with World No. 45 Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov of France standing in their way on Saturday. But their impressive performance in the quarter-final has certainly boosted their confidence and perhaps they’ll be able to make great moves on Saturday.
However, looking towards the singles side of things, in the men’s singles match, Malaysian player Leong Jun Hao fell to Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan with the final score being 16-21, 12-21. And now, n the semifinals, the No. 3 seed Chou will play No. 8 seed Toma Junior Popov to see who will make it to the final round.
With the Spain Masters matches continuing on Saturday, Malaysia’s badminton fans will be eager to see if Junaidi and Yap can continue their winning streak and reach the finals to redeem their fallen teammates and their nation.
