HAIKAL-HON JIAN'S DEBUT IN MALAYSIA OPEN DASHED BY INJURY

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 (Bernama) -- The country’s upcoming men's doubles player, Muhammad Haikal Nazri will miss his debut at the 2025 Malaysia Open held from Jan 7-12 alongside Choong Hon Jian following a hip injury suffered earlier this month.

The development was confirmed by the country's men's doubles head coach, Tan Bin Shen, while informing that the national pair is also expected to miss the Indonesia Masters 2025 from January 21-26 and the Thailand Masters 2025 (January 28-February 2).

"He (Haikal) has done a scan and has a muscle tear. So you have to wait for the decision from the specialist on how to treat this injury, whether it is necessary to rehab or surgery. For me, it is a loss because he will not only miss the Malaysia Open but other tournaments in January," he said when met recently.

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Meanwhile, based on the draw for the Malaysia Open 2025, the country's two main pairs, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will be drawn separately and will only meet each other if they advance to the final.

Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin will open their campaign against Denmark's Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard while Aaron-Wooi Yik are scheduled to face Chen Zhi Yi-Presley Smith from the United States.

Meanwhile, world number 14 pair, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun will battle against a Japanese pair Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura.

Another Malaysian pair making their debut in the Malaysia Open, Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, are scheduled to face South Korea's Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae.

--BERNAMA