Muhammad Faiq Masawi-Lok Hong Quan showed that they are truly deserving of their top seed at the PETRONAS Malaysia International Series 2025 when they made the final of the Men’s Doubles at the Indoor Arena Educity Sports Complex in Johor.
“Our opponents today had much more experience compared to us, so I didn’t expect the match to end in our favour,” said Muhammad Faiq.
Added Hong Quan: “We stayed focused by reminding ourselves to fight for every point and not let pressure take over. That mindset helped us keep our rhythm and give everything until the last rally.”
In their semifinal clash against countrymen Datu Anif Isaac Datu Asrah and Loh Ziheng, the pair of 19-year-olds from Selangor, Muhammad Faiq and Hong Quan took just over half an hour to book their place in the final.
Last year’s SUKMA champions Muhammad Faiq-Hong Quan recorded the 21-12, 21-15 win to fight for the crown tomorrow, where they will face Kim Jae-hyeon and Lee Sang-won from South Korea.
The sixth-seeded Jae-hyeon-Sang-won overcame Dexter Farrell-Wahyu Agung Prasetyo from Indonesia 21-14, 21-18 in the duel that lasted just 28 minutes.
In the meantime, the hope of Loh Ziheng to make up for the disappointment in the Men’s Doubles to make at least one final of the PETRONAS Malaysia International Series 2025 was dashed later in the day.
In the semifinals of the Mixed Doubles, Ziheng and partner Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan could not produce the goods for their place in the decider, even though they were ranked fourth.
Against sixth-seeded Kim Jae-hyeon-Jang Eun-seo, the South Koreans emerged victorious with a 21-14, 21-12 win to make it an all-Korea decider.
Seeded eight, Noh Jin-seong-Ye Na-lee stunned fifth-seeded Lee Sang-won-Kim Min-ji 19-21, 21-15, 21-19 for their place to fight another day.
ENDS
