PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttler Mohd Haikal Nazri has defended himself, explaining that he genuinely suffered a right ankle injury and did not deliberately make excuses to skip the Swiss Open this week.

This comes after national men’s doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi expressed his displeasure over the decision by Haikal and his partner, Choong Hon Jian, to withdraw from the tournament.