Aaron-Roy King's Arctic Open success ensures Malaysian silverware since 2023

Malaysian shuttlers have a unique and successful relationship with the Arctic Open, as the Super 500 event held in Vantaa, Finland has  produced winners in the last four years.

It began in 2023 when Lee Zii Jia beat Ng Tze Yong to lift the men’s singles title in an all-Malaysian final.

The following year, it was Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin who claimed the men’s doubles title to secure a hat-trick of top-tier titles, after they had won the Japan Open and China Open.

Goh-Izzuddin were made to work hard before prevailing against Denmark’s Kim Astrup-Anders Rasmussen whom they overcame in three thrilling games.

Last year, it was national women’s doubles pair Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah who made history by becoming the first Malaysian women’s pair to win this tournament.

The Malaysians secured one of their easiest victories in a final after beating Japan’s Rin Iwanaga-Kie Nakanishi 21-7, 21-9.

On Sunday, Aaron Tai-Yap Roy King made history after winning the 2026 Arctic Open in their debut as a pair.

Even more impressive, Tai-Yap won all their matches in straight games, including the 21-19, 21-19 victory over Chinese Taipei’s Lai Po-yu-Tsai Fu-cheng in the final.

Eventhough this tournament did not feature many of the world’s top pairs, Tai-Yap’s achievement remains an outstanding one as the pair developed instant chemistry and displayed great team-work, resilience and high-quality performance.

The pair will next compete in a more star-studded field at this week’s Denmark Open, but they will always hold sweet memories of a perfect debut.

With four consecutive titles, the Malaysian contingent travelling to the 2027 Arctic Open can feel confident of returning home with a perfect five.