PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are making significant progress towards re-establishing themselves as strong contenders for the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification after winning the Kaohsiung Masters title.
The world No. 29 Sze Fei-Izzuddin stunned home pair and world No. 19 Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan of Taiwan 21-14, 21-10 in a one-sided final match that lasted just 28 minutes at the K-Arena in Taiwan yesterday.
It was an impressive performance from Sze Fei-Izzuddin as they did not drop a single game en route to winning their second title of the year.
Although the Taiwan meet was a lower-tier tournament, national director of coaching Rexy Mainaky was overjoyed to see the improvement in his charges.
“I’m happy to see them win titles even though it is just Super 100, this is a good sign for them,” said Rexy.
“While their actual level is at Super 500 and above, they have proved their abilities at the 100.
“Winning the title is good for them as it helps to accumulate valuable points to improve their rankings until April next year.
“With these improvements, we hope they can qualify for the Olympics.”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin parted ways in February, which resulted in a drop in their world ranking from No. 9 to No. 53 in July.
However, they have been steadily climbing the world rankings and captured their first title in the US Open since reuniting in June.
Their next assignments are Arctic Open (Oct 10-15), Abu Dhabi Masters (Oct 17-22), Korean Masters (Nov 7-12), Kumamoto Masters (Nov 14-19) and China Masters (Nov 21-16).
RESULTS
Men’s singles: Lin Chun-yi (Tpe) bt Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) 11-21, 21-17, 21-14.
Men’s doubles: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani (Mas) bt Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan (Tpe) 21-14, 21-10.
Women’s singles: Liang Ting-yu (Tpe) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 22-20, 15-21, 21-14.
Women’s doubles: Setyana Mapasa-Angela Yu (Aus) bt Maiko Kawazoe-Haruna Konishi (Jpn) 21-19, 8-21, 21-19.
Mixed doubles: Hiroki Nishi-Akari Sato (Jpn) bt Dejan Ferdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) 22-20, 12-21, 21-14.
