Men's doubles pair Fazriq Razif (right) and Bryan Goonting
PETALING JAYA: Men’s doubles shuttler Fazriq Razif hopes to establish himself with his partner Bryan Goonting after getting off to a promising start.
Fazriq, who is the son of former great Datuk Razif Sidek, combined with Bryan at the start of the year and the pair finished runners-up in the Sri Lanka International Challenge in February and reached the semi-finals of the Slovenian Open in May.
Previously, the 20-year-old Fazriq had played with Wong Vin Sean and Justin Hoh while Bryan, 19, had combined with Choi Jian Sheng with mixed results.
Now, the pair are keen to build on their encouraging start and form a long term partnership.
Fazriq-Bryan, who are currently ranked 144th in the world are set to represent Federal Territories in the Malaysian Games (Sukma) which starts tomorrow in Sarawak.
“Bryan and I started playing together in the beginning of this year and so far we are progressing well,” said Fazriq.
“We are getting our momentum now and we hope to break into the top 80 by end of this year.
“We will be competing in this Sukma and I’m looking forward to it. This will be my last Sukma and I want to win a medal.’’
Fazriq and Bryan are itching to get back to competitive action after last playing in the Austrian Open in May.
The pair will also compete in the World Tour Super 100 Indonesian Masters (Aug 27-Sept 1) and Vietnam Open (Sept 10-15) after the Sukma.
“Our preparations are going well and we are looking forward to performing well in all our upcoming tournaments,” said Fazriq.
One of their main challengers will be teammates and top seeds Beh Chun Meng-Goh Boon Zhe of Penang.
Meanwhile, fellow Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) player Justin Hoh will also be out to make his mark for Federal Territories in the Sukma in the men’s singles.
Justin is the hot favourite to win the title and his main rival will likely be BAM teammate Eogene Ewe, who will be representing Perak.
