KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 — Despite fasting, young national men’s doubles pair Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Mohd Haikal Nazri stormed into the final of the Orleans Masters 2022 badminton championship in France last night.

The world number 103 edged home pair Eloi Adam-Julien Maio 21-18, 21-16 in a 41-minute match to stay on course for their first title this year.

In the final, the Malaysians will meet Dutch duo Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq, who had earlier come from behind to defeat India’s P.S. Ravikrishna-Sankar Prasad Udayakumar 13-21, 21-12, 22-20 in the other semi-final.

Wan Arif said they were happy to enter the final as this was the first time they were fasting while playing in a tournament.

"It was 50-50 just now. Alhamdullilah (Praise be to Allah) we had the energy and mental strength to finish the game without having to break our fast. We only drank water and ate dates after the match.

"We do not have a game plan for the final yet. We will study our opponents’ game first and InsyaAllah we will do our best,” he said in an audio clip shared with the media today.

In mixed doubles, Malaysia’s scratch pair of Yap Roy King-Teoh Mei Xing went down to Indonesia’s Rehan Kusharjanto-Lisa Kusumawati 16-21, 15-21 in the semi-finals.

Mei Xing said a series of mistakes proved costly for them, but she hoped to partner Roy King again in future tournaments. — Bernama