Reunited Patatimo Boys gear up for Indian tour reboot

KUALA LUMPUR: The 'Patatimo Boys', Wan Arif Junaidi-Haikal Nazri, are back together after three years apart.

They will begin their reunion campaign with a series of tournaments in India, starting with the Syed Modi International next month.

The duo earned their famous nickname because Arif hails from Kemaman, Terengganu, while Haikal is from Bachok, Kelantan.

The former world No. 18 pair were split in 2023, with Haikal temporarily partnering Nur Izzuddin Rumsani while Arif began a new stint with Yap Roy King.

Haikal teamed up with Choong Hon Jian three months later after Izzuddin and his regular partner, Goh Sze Fei, settled their personal differences.

Injuries have forced Haikal to change partners several times, with Bryan Goonting his current partner.

Arif has also been tried with Kang Khai Xing and Faiq Haziq Masawi, but neither combination has yielded much success.

With Roy King now forming a formidable combination with Aaron Tai, national men's doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi has decided to reunite Arif and Haikal.

They will compete in three tournaments in India — the Super 300 Syed Modi International (Nov 10-15), Super 100 Guwahati Masters (Dec 1-6) and Super 100 Odisha Masters (Dec 8-13).

"Arif has already tried playing with Khai Xing and previously with Roy King. We have been observing them.

"Among all the players, Arif and Haikal are the most senior. In terms of individual quality, they are both good players, so we thought, why not give them a try and see how things go?" said Herry, explaining his decision to reunite the pair.

"Their first tournament will be the Syed Modi International. After that, there are the Guwahati and Odisha Masters, so we will assess them over these three tournaments."

However, Herry strongly hinted that their performances will determine whether Arif and Haikal remain together as a permanent pair.

"There is no specific target for them at this stage. We will treat it as a trial first because it is still early. We usually approach things this way and see how they perform," added Herry.

"As for Arif and Haikal, we will have to wait until the tournaments to assess how well they play together.

"We cannot say for sure yet. They partnered each other in the past, but under a different coach. Their playing styles may be slightly different, or there may be other factors to consider."

Arif's only title in the last three years was the 2024 Macau Open, while Haikal enjoyed greater success with Hon Jian, winning the Syed Modi International and Guwahati Masters in 2023, as well as the 2024 Orleans Masters, before injuries disrupted their progress.

Arif's recent outings with Faiq have also been hampered by a left shoulder injury, but he is set to compete in their final tournament together at the Super 100 Kaohsiung Masters on Nov 10-15.

The same tournament will also mark Haikal's final outing with Bryan before he begins a new chapter with Arif in India.