Yap Roy King was content with his and Junaidi Arif’s performance despite the pair losing in a closely contested men’s doubles final at the Spain Masters against Sabar-Karyaman-Moh Reza Pahlevi on Sunday.

Yap-Junaidi battled for 52-minutes before losing 18-21, 21-17, 19-21 against the Indonesians, in what looked to be a heartbreaking defeat after pushing their opponents to the wire.

But Yap chose to look at the positives of the pair’s run in this Super 300 event which saw them exceed expectations to reach the final.

“Reaching the final itself is a confidence booster for us, as this is only my second tournament after returning from injury.

“It shows that we can compete against higher ranking players, and that gives us real confidence. As for the final itself, our opponents were more confident than us. They had quality and speed and executed their strategy well,” said Yap.

The 23-year-old was grateful to reach the final after only just returning from a three-month knee injury setback, with the Spain Masters only the pair’s second tournament of the year after the Swiss Open.

Overall, it has been a good few weeks for the Malaysian doubles’ pairs competing on the World Tour.

Choong Hon Jian-Haikal Nazri won the Orleans Masters men’s doubles title last month, before Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik finished as All-England runners-up after that.

Last week, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai won the Swiss Open mixed doubles crown, before Yap-Junaidi earned their silver medal in Spain.