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Source : New Straits Times
KUMAMOTO, November 13, 2026 — Malaysia’s Aaron Tai and Yap Roy King reached the men’s doubles semi-finals of the Kumamoto Masters after beating Chinese Taipei’s world No. 15 pair Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan 21-16, 21-12 in just 28 minutes.
The world No. 57 pairing’s quarter-final win at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium on Friday made them Malaysia’s last players standing at the BWF World Tour Super 500 event, The Star and the New Straits Times reported. It was their second straight-games upset of a higher-ranked pair in as many days. NST said they had beaten world No. 5 Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin 21-14, 21-15 in an all-Malaysian second-round tie on Thursday.
They were due to face Denmark’s world No. 14 pair Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard in Saturday’s semi-final, after the Danes beat Japan’s Hiroki Okamura and Kyohei Yamashita 21-14, 21-14. The Star said Lundgaard and Vestergaard had already knocked out Malaysia’s Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong in the opening round and eighth seeds Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun in the second.
It is the first meeting between the two pairings, although both Malaysians have faced the Danes in previous partnerships, The Star reported. Yap Roy King and Wan Arif Wan Junaidi beat them at the All-England before losing to them in the Malaysian Masters semi-finals, while Aaron Tai and Kang Khai Xing lost to them in the Swiss Open quarter-finals.
The result is the new partnership’s third semi-final in five tournaments since they teamed up last month. They won the Arctic Open on debut and reached the last four at the Hylo Open in Germany, where The Star said they lost to eventual champions Christian Kjaer and Rasmus Kjaer. Another win would take them into their second final together.
Badminton Association of Malaysia performance committee chairman Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei told The Star that consistency had been the pair’s biggest plus. “Of the new combinations the coaches have put together, this pair have been quite consistent,” he said. “They’re still a young pair. I hope they can keep challenging the senior pairs so that they can all improve together.”
National coach Chang Kim Wai also struck a confident note ahead of the Danish test. “The Danish pair are currently on form, but so are Aaron Tai-Roy King,” he told NST. “There is still a chance for Aaron Tai-Roy King to reach the final. I believe the pair that maintains focus and perform will win the semi-final encounter.”
NST reported that a win for the Malaysians would also halt Lundgaard and Vestergaard’s chase of a World Tour Finals place. The Danes were said to sit 130 points behind Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik, who occupy the eighth and final qualifying spot for next month’s finals in Hangzhou, with Wooi Yik recovering from a heel problem and Chia troubled by a shoulder issue. The Star added that none of the eight seeded pairs remains in the men’s doubles draw in Kumamoto. Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi were due to face China’s Wang Chang and Xie Haonan in the other semi-final.
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