Aaron Tai-Roy King enter Arctic Open semis

Men’s doubles scratch pair Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King pulled off a third giant-killing feat at the Arctic Open by beating top Thai duo Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul to enter the semi-finals.

The Malaysian duo, playing together in their first tournament, won 21-13, 21-19 in just 38 minutes at the Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland last night.

Aaron-Roy King, who are part of the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s experimental combinations, have been extremely impressive in this World Tour Super 500 championship by winning all their matches in straight games so far.

In the semi-final, they will meet world No 32 Danish pair Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer who defeated India’s Krishna Prasad Garaga-Pratheek Krishnamurthy Roy.

After an upset win over their world No 24 compatriots Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong in the opening round, Aaron-Roy King went on to beat world No 21 ranked Taiwanese brothers Lee Fang Chih-Lee Fang Jen in the last 16.

Winners of the doubles titles in all categories will get a prize money of US$39,500 (RM160,654) while the runners-up take home US$19,000 (RM77,277). All semi-finalists earn US$7,000 (RM28,470) each.