Ambitious: Goh Sze Fei (left) and Choong Hon Jian.
PETALING JAYA: Goh Sze Fei is demanding more from himself after a mixed start with new partner Choong Hon Jian.
The national men’s doubles pair, who were combined in February after Sze Fei split with Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, are finding their feet together after a solid start.
Sze Fei-Hon Jian had finished runners-up in their first tournament together — the Thailand International Challenge.
The pair, though, could not maintain their form when they lost out in the last eight of the China Masters and Vietnam International Challenge.
In their last outing, Sze Fei-Hon Jian bowed out in the first round of the Osaka International Challenge after losing 16-21, 21-16, 13-21 to Japan’s Tori Aizawa-Yuto Noda.
On the pair’s start, Sze Fei said: “To be honest, I’m satisfied with Hon Jian’s performances so far but not mine.
“I’m not calm or steady enough during the crucial points in matches.
“This doesn’t happen all the time but when it does, I need to find the right solutions to overcome it.
“Also, my job is to set up attacking opportunities for Hon Jian but I didn’t do this as well as I should have in the first-round match in Osaka,” he said.
Overall, the 25-year-old Sze Fei, who is more experienced than Hon Jian, who is 22, believes they are going in the right direction.
“We are still not there yet in terms of our understanding on court but we are getting better.
“We also need to keep working on our strategies during matches as Hon Jian is still getting used to playing in the men’s doubles.”
Hon Jian only had brief partnerships with Chen Tang Jie and Man Wei Chong in the men’s doubles in 2019 before he switched to playing mixed doubles in 2021.
Currently, he has been given double duty and plays in the mixed doubles with Go Pei Kee.
Sze Fei, who is currently ranked No. 123 in the world with Hon Jian, is aiming to break into the top 50 by the end of the year.
