KUALA LUMPUR: Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King have vowed to bounce back at the Malaysia Masters next week after crashing out in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open on Friday.
In the last eight in Bangkok, world No. 28 Hon Jian-Haikal lost in three games 21-18, 15-21, 21-18 to Taiwan's Ming Che Lu-Tai Kai Wei, while Arif-Roy King were outclassed 21-7, 21-14 by former world No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty of India.
While losing is always a bitter pill to swallow, both the national backup pairs were not embarrassed to acknowledge what they lacked in terms of skill and technique and how they compared to other top pairs.
"For Arif and I, this was our first time playing against a top-five pair. It was a good experience because we know now where we stand among the world's best," Roy King told SpoTV.
It is worth noting that Roy King is slowly returning to his best form after struggling for months with a bad knee injury.
His partner Arif added: "We're not happy to lose, especially when we couldn't even go down with a fight.
"We admit there is still a gap between us and the top 10 pairs.
"There is room for improvement, most notably in our service game and receiving. We need to forget this game and think of the Malaysia Masters next week."
Meanwhile, Hon Jian-Haikal, who have been going great guns in recent months, did not expect to find themselves at the receiving end of world No. 80 Che Lu-Kai Wei.
In their previous encounter at the Indonesia Masters last year, the Malaysian Thomas Cuppers came out tops after making quick work of the Taiwanese pair in straight games.
Nonetheless, Haikal believes it was better for him and Hon Jian to be brought down to earth quickly, so they can focus on bouncing back on home turf.
"From the start, we were dragged into following their game. Today, I saw clearly what Hon Jian and I lacked and need to improve.
"As an individual, I felt very uncomfortable because our opponents kept forcing me to play from the back and turned the match into a one-on-one battle.
"Everything I didn't like about our game is what Hon Jian and I need to improve.
"We don't have much time to train before the Malaysia Masters, so I hope we get to fix things before the tournament," said the pint-sized Haikal.
Both pairs will have their work cut out at the Malaysia Masters.
Hon Jian-Haikal will open their campaign against independent compatriots Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong and will likely face their national teammates Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun in the second round.
Also in the top half of the draw are former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and China's He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu.
Arif-Roy King, who are in the bottom half, will face China's Xie Hao Nan-Zeng Wei Han in the first round and could be up against Asian Championships bronze medallists Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan of Taiwan in the second or the high-flying Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior.
Other notable pairs in the bottom half are Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani and Denmark's Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.