Aaron Tai-Roy King fly high with swift Hylo Open victory

KUALA LUMPUR: Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King got their Hylo Open campaign off to a flying start with a dominant first-round victory in Saarbrucken, Germany, today.

The world No. 74, playing in their fourth consecutive European tournament, swept aside Germany's world No. 63 Malik Borakkadi-Kenneth Neumann 21-11, 21-12 in just 28 minutes.

The Malaysians announced their arrival following national men's doubles coach Herri Iman Pierngadi's reshuffle by winning their first tournament together — the Super 500 Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, three weeks ago.

They then suffered straight-game, second-round exits at the hands of elite opposition — falling to world No. 4 compatriots Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik at the Denmark Open, and South Korea's world No. 1 Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae at the French Open last week.

Aaron-Roy King will be looking to make an impression in the German tournament, where only two top-10 pairs feature — Indonesia's world No. 7 Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza Isfahani and England's world No. 9 Ben Lane-Sean Vendy. The Malaysian duo will face either top seeds Sabar-Reza or England's world No. 40 Alex Green-Zach Russ in the last 16 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, independent shuttler Lee Zii Jia, ranked world No. 42, begins his campaign tomorrow against Singapore's world No. 33 Jason Teh.

Zii Jia will be aiming for a strong run in Germany after resolving a family dispute at the Kuala Lumpur High Court last week.

French Open mixed doubles runners-up Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing are also in action tomorrow against Dutch world No. 181 Joep Strooper-Sterre Bang in the opening round.