Wan Arif-Haikal on right track to be successful after reaching final
PETALING JAYA: Youngsters Wan Arif Wan Junaidi and Haikal Nazri made a bold declaration last year of their intent to conquer the world as a pair.
And yesterday, the duo showed they are on track to reach their goal when they made it to the final of the Austrian Open in Graz after defeating experienced Mads Pieler Kolding-Frederik Sogaard of Denmark 21-13, 22-20.
It was only their second senior appearance and the two 18-year-olds have certainly given head coach Flandi Limpele a good reason to be happy.
They staged a remarkable comeback in the second game saving four game points at 16-20 to prevent their opponents from forcing a rubber game.
Wan Arif-Haikal’s victory over the Portuguese International Series champions Kolding-Sogaard helped to avenge teammates Chang Yee Jun-Chia Wei Jie’s defeat in the last-eight.
Wan Arif-Haikal will take on French pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar, the fifth seeds, in the final.
Wan Arif-Haikal did well in junior tournaments last year when they came in runners-up at the Dutch Junior International and went one step better to win the German Junior Open.
The pair had requested for their partnership to be retained after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Junior Championships in Kazan, Russia.
“We believe we can reach greater heights. We have a lot in common that make us click well.
“We have the same character on court and we’re also unique as we’re both left-handed and hail from the east coast,” said Haikal in an interview with StarSport last December.
“I’m Kelantanese and Arif is from Terengganu. It’s special because there aren’t many doubles combo from there.
Arif echoed Haikal thoughts, saying that they have been dreaming about conquering the world together.
“We share the same ambition – to be the world No. 1,” he said.
Malaysia are also in the running for the women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles.
Anna Cheong-Yap Cheng Wen will have a chance to clinch their first victory in their second tournament together while Choong Hon Jian-Toh Ee Wei are just a step away from completing a hattrick of wins after triumphing at the Polish Open and last week’s Slovenian International Series.