Energia Areena exterior in Vantaa
Energia Areena in Vantaa, Finland, on Aug. 3, 2009. File photo of the Arctic Open venue; it does not depict the October 2026 final. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Energia-areena.JPG License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Resized for publication. junafani / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0

Yap Roy King hopes Malaysia's coaching team will keep his new partnership with Aaron Tai together after the pair won the Arctic Open men's doubles title in their first tournament as a combination.

The Oct. 11 victory in Vantaa, Finland, gave the newly assembled partnership an immediate result at a Super 500 event. Roy King's comments, reported on Oct. 13, put the decision about its longer-term future back with the coaches.

The pair defeated Chinese Taipei's Lai Po Yu and Tsai Fu Cheng 21-19, 21-19. The result is confirmed by the tournament organiser's finals report, which lists Tai and Yap as the men's doubles champions.

The final lasted 41 minutes, according to Bernama's match report. It said the Malaysians had overcome higher-ranked pairs during the tournament before winning against their Taiwanese opponents.

A Successful Trial, With Coaches Still Deciding

Roy King said he wanted to remain with Tai but would follow the coaches' instructions, The Star reported, citing a post-match interview with the Badminton Association of Malaysia.

The report described them as one of the combinations being tested by men's doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi. Roy King said their partnership came together quickly despite limited preparation and that they encouraged each other to focus on their respective roles.

The Star identified the victory as Roy King's second title of the year after the Korean Masters in August with Man Wei Chong. Tai had finished runner-up at the Taiwan Open in August alongside Aaron Chia.
The Arctic Open win therefore adds evidence from a new pairing to players' results with other partners. A successful first week supports the case for the combination, while the longer-term selection remains a coaching decision rather than a commitment announced by the players.

A Close Final From Both Sides

The losing finalists also saw the tournament as a significant result. Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that Lai and Tsai achieved their best finish together, despite losing the two games by identical two-point margins.

The agency said they recovered from a deficit to lead during the second game before the Malaysians overturned the score late on. Their account provides the opponents' perspective on a final that remained competitive even though it ended in straight games.

Both Taiwan doubles teams finished as runners-up. Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih Yun lost the women's doubles final to China's Chen Fan Shu Tian and Luo Xu Min, 21-18, 21-19, the organiser confirmed.

The other titles went to Denmark's Anders Antonsen in men's singles and Mia Blichfeldt in women's singles, while China's Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin won mixed doubles. Antonsen needed three games to overcome Japan's Yushi Tanaka, finishing the decider 27-25 after an 87-minute match.

The organiser's event overview places the tournament within the BWF World Tour and lists Vantaa Energia Arena as its venue. The programme spans men's and women's singles and doubles, plus mixed doubles.

For Malaysia's new men's doubles combination, the clearest outcome is the title and the players' response to working together under tournament pressure. Whether the pairing becomes permanent will be established through subsequent squad decisions, while its first result already gives the coaches a concrete competitive performance to assess.