Since they have won a S300 title (albeit in the absence of strong pairs), I think it is about time a thread is made for them to monitor their development as it seems unlikely that they will be split / matched with other pairs after their breakthrough. Choong Hon Jian, the hard hitter of the duo is actually an XD player and had won a few IC level tournaments with Toh Ee Wei in 2019 before the latter left BAM. He now partners Go Pei Kee. He started playing MD when Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzudin parted ways at the start of 2023 as he was selected as Goh Sze Fei's new partner. Muhammad Haikal used to partner with Junaidi Arif and used to be ranked 30+, but were split when Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzudin parted ways at the start of 2023 as he was selected as Nur Izzudin's new partner. After being left without a partner following Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzudin's decision to reunite, Choong Hon Jian was allocated to him and it appears that this was a blessing in disguise, as after struggling to make an impact in their initial tournaments, they have ended the year with a bang. He is known to be very quick on court despite his short height (1.62m). Choong Hon Jian Date of Birth: 2 July 2000 Handedness: Left Muhammad Haikal Nazri Date of Birth: 26 December 2002 Handedness: Left World Tour Titles: 2023 Syed Modi International (Super 300) 2023 Gumawati Masters (Super 100)
Powerful smasher + creative front court player + left hand = recipe for sucess. Good results so far, especially after Haikal split with Junaidi Arif. CHJ surely needs to fix his easy mistakes while Haikal needs more firepower. Mentality is good as well.
being both left handed is actually advantage.. not saying big advantage, but in Pro level, small things make difference. Hope they can keep working hard and push hard for next year.. great to see another pair get the limelight and it's good for Malaysian too
looks like their strongpoint is their net play.. still plenty of room for improvements in accuracy and creativity .. but i think they are getting there
