KUALA LUMPUR: Rising national men's pairs Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri and Wan Arif Junaidi-Yap Roy King will be hoping to capitalise on the absence of many top opponents at the Australian Open to climb further in the world rankings.
Hon Jian-Haikal and Arif-Roy King, the world No. 26 and No. 37 respectively, can expect a massive jump when the world rankings are updated next week after both secured their passage to the quarter-finals of the Super 500 event in Sydney today.
Hon Jian-Haikal strolled past Aneesh Nirmal-Emannuel Stephen Sam of Australia 21-12, 21-8, and will face another home rivals Rizky Hidayat-Frengky Wijaya Putra, the world No. 129, in the next round.
On paper, Hon Jian-Haikal are a shoo-in for the semi-finals, a feat that could be enough to send them to world's top 20 for the first time next week.
Arif-Roy King will not want to be outdone as they too have a fine opportunity to make it to the last four after triumphing 21-11, 21-14 against Ooi Yi Hern-Steven Stallwood, an Australian-English combination.
Arif-Roy King will be going up against unheralded Taiwanese Lin Yu Chieh-Chen Zhi Ray, and they should be too strong for the world No. 143.
Up-and-coming Kang Khai Xing-Aaron Tai will also be playing in their biggest match yet as they clash with China's Thomas Cup-winning members Ren Xiang Yu-He Ji Ting tomorrow.
Khai Xing-Aaron advanced by beating Kanki Igawa-Ken Richardson of Australia 21-14, 21-8.