Orleans: Malaysia’s World No. 103 Junaidi Arif/Muhammad Haikal pulled off a come-from-behind 19-21, 24-22, 21-19 upset over France’s World No. 30 Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov in the 2022 Orleans Masters first-round match on Wednesday.
After trailing by 13-19, Arif/Haikal managed to tie the score at 19-19 in the first game. However, the Popov brothers fended off the attempted comeback from the Malaysians by winning the first game 21-19.
It appeared that Arif/Haikal’s mental confidence was growing in the second game, saving a match-point and successfully forcing a decider by taking the second game 24-22.
Arif/Haikal endured a slow start in the third game but got their job done as they fought back from 1-7, 5-10 to ultimately stunned the Popov brothers 21-19 to advance to the second round in a match that lasted 72 minutes. They will meet World No. 223 Panjer Aji Siloka Dadiara/Bryan Sidney Elohim of Indonesia next.
In addition to Arif/Haikal, Chang Yee Jun/Yap Roy King and Loo Bing Kun/Lwi Sheng Hao also advanced to the second round. World No. 197 Chang/Yap will face World No. 42 Fabien Delrue/William Villeger of France, while World No. 198 Loo Bing Kun/Lwi Sheng Hao will take on World No. 287 Joel Eipe/Daniel Lundgaard of Denmark on Thursday.
Meanwhile, World No. 110 Sholeh Aidil who had a bye in the first round, became the only Malaysian player left in the men’s singles category after beating Johnnie Torjussen of England 19-21, 21-12, 21-17 in the second round. He will play 2016 Asian Junior Champions boy’s singles silver medalist – Lee Chia Hao of Taiwan in the third round.
In the mixed doubles category, the Rio Olympics silver medalist – Chan Peng Soon and his new mixed doubles partner – Toh Ee Wei were putting up a strong fight against World No. 85 Zachariah Josiahno Sumanti/Hediana Julimarbela of Indonesia. Despite having a 6-1 handsome lead in the decider, unfortunately, Chan/Toh couldn’t finish their tasks by going down 20-22, 21-18, 18-21.
Chan posted the message below on his Facebook after the match.
“Many people have cast doubt on me if I can still play badminton? Of course, I can still play. I won’t give up trying because that’s my goal. I don’t want to think about if I’ll achieve any success, I at least tried my best. I believe I can do better!”
