All smiles: Men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei (left) and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani celebrating with their medals after winning the Japan Open title.
PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani showed that they can become a formidable pair in their careers after capturing their biggest title so far – the Japan Open.
Sze Fei, 27 and Izzuddin, 26, have had a career full of ups and downs and are set to leave the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) on Sept 1 to turn independent. And they made sure to sign off in style by winning their first ever World Tour Super 750 title.
The world No. 12 pair were on fire as they toppled South Korea’s reigning world champions Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae 21-19, 21-15 in 45 minutes in the final in Kanagawa yesterday.
It was Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s third win in five meetings over the Korean world No. 4 duo and their most important success.
The former’s previous best achievements were winning the Super 300 German Open in 2022 and US Open last year.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin were delighted with their victory after also having stunned Indonesia’s world No. 6 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto and new combination Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana en route to the final.
The Malaysians only dropped one game on the way to the title when they defeated Fajar-Rian 21-16, 10-21, 21-16 in the last eight.
“We came here to do our best and we managed to win this title. I’m proud of both of us,” said Izzuddin in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF) yesterday.
“We stayed focused on every point and communicated more with each other.’’
Sze Fei said: “We are definitely happy and special thanks to (outgoing) BAM president Tan Sri Norza Zakaria for supporting us and believing in us no matter what.
‘’There were some lucky shots (in the match) that went in our favour. I think our opponents were not in their best condition today (yesterday) and this gave us an advantage.”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin split up in February last year, citing a lack of trust between each other but decided to reunite in June and received the blessings and support from Norza and the coaches in the BAM.
This year, the pair have steadily improved and repaid the faith shown in them by finishing runners-up in the Super 1000-rated Asian Championships in April and helped the team win bronze in the Thomas Cup Finals a month later before their triumph in Japan.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin are now hungry for more as they prepare to start their professional journey.
“This win will boost our confidence and we now want to break into the top five in the world,” said Izzuddin.
Sze Fei said: “We are champions today (yesterday) but starting from tomorrow (today), we start all over again.”
The pair have one last tournament as BAM players when they compete next in the Korean Open which starts today in Seoul.
Another impressive showing will set Sze Fei-Izzuddin up nicely for their professional careers and finally fulfil the promise that they only showed in flashes throughout their time in the BAM.
