Cheers to Sze Fei-Izzuddin for stretching Danish Olympic runners-up
PETALING JAYA: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani’s gallant run at the Spanish Masters ended in the quarter-finals but they deserve apat on the back.
The world No. 52 almost pulled off their careers’ biggest win before going down fighting 20- 22, 21-18, 21-19 to London Olympic Games silver medallists Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark in a thrilling 78-minute match at the Vall d’Hebron Olympic Sports Centre in Barcelona on Friday.
With the quarter-final finish yesterday, Thailand Masters semi-finalists Sze Fei-Izzuddin are expected to move up by a few rungs in the world rankings.
Head coach Paulus Firman wants them to break into the world top 30 before the Olympic qualification period begins on May 1.
Izzuddin believes things can only get better for him and Sze Fei from nowon.
“We’re really happy with how we’ve been performing lately. More importantly, we’ve rediscovered our confidence,” said Izzuddin.
“Our game has improved and we do have what it takes to challenge the top-ranked pairs. What we need is to be more composed during crucial stages.
“We could have won against the Danes but we lost because we were too eager to win the points and forgot our game plan.”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have set themselves another last-eight target at next week’s German Open.
“It has been good so far this season, and we need to keep this momentum going,” said Izzuddin. The pair open their campaign at the German Open against qualifiers on Wednesday.
“Our target in every tournament is to reach at least the quarter-finals and see how high we can climb in the world rankings.”
It was also the end of the road for women’s doubles pair Chow Mei Kuan- Lee Meng Yean when they went down 6-21, 21-19, 12-19 to sixth seeds Kim So-yeong-Kong Hee-yong of South Korea.