On the next quest: Sze Fei and Izzuddin face a tricky test in the first round of the Denmark Open against Taiwan’s world No. 10 Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan.
PETALING JAYA: High flying men’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani attributed their strong form this year to their growing trust in each other.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have been on fire of late and captured their third title in two months in the Arctic Open on Sunday.
The world No. 8 independent pair had to do it the hard way by sensationally toppling Indonesia’s world No. 6 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto, China’s world No. 1 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang and Denmark’s defending champions Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (No. 2) en route to the title.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin also won the Japan and China Opens last month and could overtake national No. 1 and world No. 4 Aaron-Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the rankings soon if they can keep up their fiery form.
Sze Fei said the belief in each other was the key to their success so far and they are hungry to continue doing well.
“The key is trusting each other and keep going and keep trying,” said Sze Fei in a post match interview with SPOTV.
“We will continue what we’ve been doing these last few weeks, and that is giving our best in every match.
“There were many tense moments during the matches and it was important that we never lost faith in each other.”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have no time to celebrate just yet as they will next play in the Denmark Open, which starts today in Odense.
Izzuddin knows that the pair face a tough task to maintain their form in Denmark after the exhausting week.
Izzuddin said: “It was really tough matches for us since the quarter-final onwards (in Arctic Open). We had to prepare well mentally and physically.
“It has been a tiring week for us and we have to be ready again in Denmark.”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin face a tricky test in the first round in Odense against Taiwan’s world No. 10 Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan.
If they manage to win, they will likely face world No. 14 homesters Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard for a place in the quarter-final.
Meanwhile, Aaron-Wooi Yik, who are the defending champions, will be out to bounce back after suffering a surprise defeat at the hands of England’s world No. 16 Ben Lane-Sean Vendy in the second round of the Arctic tourney.
Aaron-Wooi Yik will open their campaign in Odense against Japan’s world No. 20 Kenya Mitsuhashi-Hiroki Okamura.
The other Malaysians in the fray in the men’s doubles are Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi.
In the men’s singles, world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia will play Japan’s world No. 13 Kenta Nishimoto in the opening round while Leong Jun Hao (No. 29) has a difficult task against Indonesia’s world No. 5 and Arctic Open runners-up Jonatan Christie.
