Credit due to duo for remarkable rise to form

I REFER to the Starsport report “They’re back in force” (The Star, April 15).

I would like to compliment men’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani for their fine heroics in securing the silver medal at the Badminton Asia Championships 2024 held in Ningbo, China.

Even though they lost 17-21, 21-15, 10-21 in the finals to world No. 3 Liang Weikeng–wang Chang of China, the duo fought hard and, to their credit, had evenly matched their opponents in the first game and outwitted them in the second before valiantly going down in the decider.

Despite this agonising loss, the world No. 19 could still hold their head high for finishing as runners-up and having had a highly impressive run in the tournament. They began their campaign by causing a major upset in the early round when they beat reigning world champions Kang Min-hyuk–seo Seung-jae of South Korea 21-13, 21-18.

Another notable victory was in the quarter finals when they came up tops against Taiwan’s Olympics 2021 gold medalists Lee Yang–wang Chi-lin 19-21, 21-19, 21-19.

And in the semi-finals, they caused another big upset after beating their more experienced compatriots and world No. 5 Aaron Chia–soh Wooi Yik 21-14, 21-18. And in view of their good showing at this Super 1000 event, Sze Fei-izzuddin are expected to rise a few places in the world rankings in the coming days.

This is indeed a remarkable turnaround for the duo considering that they had decided to part ways in January last year owing to a dismal run in a number of tournaments. However, due to the good offices of the Badminton Association of Malaysia, they decided to bury their differences and agreed to resume their partnership four months later.

It goes without saying that their rise to form is indeed timely and augurs well for Malaysia’s campaign at the BWF Thomas Cup Finals, which will be held from April 27 to May 5 in Chengdu, China. I am fairly certain that given the fine showing and with their renewed self-confidence, Sze-fei and Izzuddin would strive their level best to help the Malaysian team do well in this prestigious tournament.