Prime show: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzudin Rumsani in action against India’s Chirag Shetty-Satwiksairaj Rankireddy during their men’s doubles semi-finals at the Indian Open last week. — AFP
PETALING JAYA: High-flying men’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have been offered a spot in the Road to Gold (RTG) Olympics programme.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s achievements which include rising to a career-high No. 2 in the world and capturing the Indian Open title on Sunday have been recognised by Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh and the pair have received an offer to join the elite programme geared towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Sze Fei confirmed the news but shared that Hannah has not met the independent pair yet to discuss further regarding their inclusion in the programme.
“We are thankful to the minister for offering us a place in the RTG programme,” said Sze Fei.
“For now, she has not met us yet to discuss the details of the offer. I know of this programme but I have never been included, so I don’t know about the terms.
“We will see the terms first before deciding (to accept or not).”
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have been in fine form since last August and captured the China Open, Japan Open and Arctic Open titles and finished runners-up to Denmark’s world No. 1 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in their maiden appearance in the prestigious season ending World Tour Finals in Hangzhou last month.
The pair’s impressive run saw them overtake world No. 5 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik for the first time since 2019 to become the country’s top men’s pair.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s form though came too late as they missed out on qualifying for the Paris Olympics last year.
The duo have a strong chance to book their place in the 2028 Olympics if they can maintain their performances.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s next individual tournament will be the All-England from March 11-16 in Birmingham.
Before that, the pair could be called up for the Asia Mixed Team Championships from Feb 11-16 in Qingdao, China.
The team meet also acts as the qualifier for the Sudirman Cup in May.
National coaching director Rexy Mainaky will announce the team list for the Asia team event today.