Eventful year for Roy King but injury spoils run

PETALING JAYA: It has been a season filled with both peaks and valleys for national doubles shuttler Yap Roy King but he harbours no complaints.

The 22-year-old Roy King experienced a few changes in his sports career, stepping into a dual role after a reshuffle in the men’s doubles department caused by the split of another duo Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in March.

Roy King maintained his mixed doubles partnership with Valeree Siow and combined with Wan Arif Wan Junaidi to play in the men’s doubles event.

Their partnerships showed promising progress when Roy King lifted his first title of the year with Arif in the Nantes International Challenge in June before claiming a second title at a higher-tier Indonesian Masters (September) with Valeree.

Roy King also achieved his first doubles success to win both men’s and mixed doubles crown in the National Championships in July.

Unfortunately, things took a downturn when Arif suffered a minor right ankle injury in August before making their comeback in the Indonesian International Challenge in September where they suffered a narrow 18-21, 21-19, 15-21 defeat to home pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama-Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani in the second round.

Their progress faced further challenges when Roy King injured his right ankle in the second round of Kaohsiung Masters in September, resulting in their withdrawal from the KL Masters in October.

Roy King is nursing another knee injury, which he sustained in the recently-concluded Syed Modi International, where he and Arif had to concede a walkover to compatriots and eventual champions Choong Hon Jian-Mohd Haikal Nazri in the quarter-finals.

It was a bitter pill for Roy King-Arif to swallow as the Indian meet was their last tournament of the season but it ended on an unfavourable note.

Roy King has mixed feelings about his overall journey throughout the season.

“It has been quite a roller-coaster year for me but I’m still blessed and happy for the results even though it ended up not so great for us because of my injury,” said Roy King.

“I had some strain around my knee area… I’m not sure when I can return to training as we’re still waiting for the medic team’s advice.”