Not a shattered dream yet for independent pair Arif-Azriyn

PETALING JAYA: Independent men’s doubles pair Arif Abdul LatifNur Mohd Azriyn Ayub won’t give up on their dream of making their World Championships debut in Basel, Switzerland, from Aug 19-25.

The pair, who were ranked 29th, missed out on the first invitation when the cut-off for Phase 1 entries was made on April 30.

A nation can only have a maximum of three pairs if all of them are in the top 24. Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (No. 14), Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (No. 15) and Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi (No. 24) made the cut.

However, all is not lost for ArifAzriyn to be one of the 48 pairs for Basel.

They are now the fifth highest-ranked pair in the reserve list and could still make it through Phase 2 on May 23 if a spot is vacant due to withdrawals.

At least two berths are expected to be available in the men’s doubles.

The Badminton World Federation announced earlier this week that they decided not to issue a wild card in any of the five events.

Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen are not expected to compete after their split at the AllEngland in March.

Arif said they are keeping their fingers crossed.

“We’re still hopeful of going to Basel,” said Arif.

“We worked really hard to improve on our rankings in the past one year. Unfortunately, we fell short by losing out by just a few rungs to Yew Sin-Ee Yi.

“For now, all we can do is pray for the best. Hopefully, some pairs will withdraw.

“We have not played at the world meet before. And it would be great to make the cut as professionals.”

The last time Malaysia had a maximum representation of four pairs were in Guangzhou in 2013.

Malaysia were represented by Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, V Shem-Lim Khim Wah, Hoon Thien How-Wee Kiong and Zakry Abdul Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong emerged as the best performer by reaching the last eight.