Sports

Badminton: Japan’s Hoki-Kobayashi target world No. 1 spot after title win

Jul 04 (The Star) - World champions Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi of Japan have set their sights on becoming the world No. 1 for the first time after capturing the Malaysian Open men’s doubles title in style.

Yesterday, the world No. 2 came out on top against world No. 7 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto of Indonesia when they pulled off a sensational 24-22, 16-21, 21-9 win in 65 minutes.

They had also beaten Fajar-Rian in the final of the Thailand Open in May but then, the Indonesians were forced to concede a walkover due to an injury to the former.

With their second title this year, Hoki-Kobayashi have inched closer to the current world No. 1 Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya of Indonesia who have been hampered by injuries and poor form and have not won any titles this year.

The duo had pulled out of the home tournament at the eleventh hour, citing an injury to Marcus.

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