KUALA LUMPUR: There was no icing on the cake for men's double Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, who settled for second best in the Super 300 Spain Masters on Sunday.
Playing in their first World Tour final as a pair, the world No. 65 fought tooth and nail against Indonesia's Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani before succumbing 21-18, 17-21, 21-19 at the Centro Deportivo Municipal Gallur.
Despite the defeat, it was a positive break for Arif-Roy King, who are slowly making a comeback after a three-month layover.
Last week at the Swiss Open, their first tournament of the season, the Malaysians crashed out in the second round.
When contacted by Timesport, Arif said he is happy that Roy King has recovered from his injury, and he hopes to maintain their consistency in upcoming tournaments.
Last year, Arif-Roy King won the Nantes International Challenge in June and were crowned national champions a month later.
FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles: Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Toma Junior Popov (Fra) 21-11, 15-21, 22-20.
Men's doubles: Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani (Ina) bt Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King 21-18, 17-21, 21-19.
Women's singles: Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Supanida Katethong (Tha) 21-12, 21-9.
Women's doubles: Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi (Jpn) bt Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi (Ina) 12-21, 21-8, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Rinov Rivaldy-Pitha Haningtyas Mentari (Ina) bt Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) 17-21, 21-12, 21-13.