National men’s doubles shuttler Haikal Nazri is looking forward to celebrating the upcoming Hari Raya back in his hometown, but the 21-year-old is more excited about giving out ‘duit raya’ to his relatives.

Haikal will be back in his hometown at Kelantan for the holidays, and the young star has already cultivated the spirit of blessing his family members to mark the festive celebrations.

“This will be the third year I am giving away duit raya. It is a joyful feeling because when we were younger, we would receive duit raya and now it’s the other way around. I am not from a wealthy family but I give what I can,” Haikal told Bernama.

Coming from a relatively large family where he is the fourth of five siblings, family support has been a crucial element of Haikal’s success on court.

The left-hander has developed a successful combination with Choong Hon Jian, and the world number 28 pair recently delivered Malaysia’s first title on the World Tour this season by clinching the Orleans Masters crown.

That success came after the pair made a great start in their debut season last year by winning the Guwahati Masters and Syed Modi International title.

Haikal-Choong are also in contention to be selected for the Thomas Cup squad.

The national body have until April 13 to submit the squad list for the team event.