Kharkiv: Two Malaysian doubles pairs – Junaidi Arif/Muhammad Haikal (men’s doubles) and Yap Roy King/Valeree Siow (mixed doubles) continued their strong run in Europe after winning their third European titles on Friday, this time at the 2021 Ukraine International.
After emerging champions of the Hellas International last week and the Latvia International last month, the mixed doubles pairing of Yap Roy King/Valeree Siow needed 29 minutes to beat German’s No. 7 seeds Johannes Pistorious/Emma Moszczynski 21-19, 21-12 for the 2021 Ukraine International title.
Meanwhile, Junaidi Arif/Muhammad Haikal were pushed to the limit before beating Indian pair Ishaan Batnagar/K Sai Pratheek in a match that lasted 59 minutes.
Arif/Haikal started well by taking the first set 21-15 before the Indian duo bounced back to win the second set 21-19.
The Malaysian pair was pretty much in control throughout the whole decider as they dominated the Indian pair to win the third-set 21-15.
Ukraine International was also Arif/Haikal’s third title this year after winning last week’s Hellas International and the Austrian Open in May.