PETALING JAYA: Competing in the land of the rising sun seems to bring out the best in men’s doubles shuttlers Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin had struggled to maintain their form this year after a breakthrough 2024 but showed glimpses of their brilliant selves by marching into their second consecutive Japan Open final.
The independent pair captured the title last year and went on to enjoy a superb run that saw them eventually become world No. 1 this year.
After a drop in form following their Indian Open title win in January, Sze Fei-Izzuddin seem to have rediscovered some of their best again in the same tourney that first kickstarted their rise.
Yesterday, the independent duo stayed cool to survive a tense opening game to triumph 21-19, 21-11 over Taiwan’s world No. 24 Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han in the last four at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin were the hot favourites to win against the Taiwanese pair but looked in trouble when they trailed 4-9 and 7-11 in the first game.
The defending champions though were unfazed and used their experience to claw their way back and snatch the game.
The narrow win boosted Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s confidence and the pair went on to secure a comfortable victory in the second game to set up a mouthwatering title showdown against South Korea’s world No. 3 Seo Seung-jae-Kim Won-ho today.
The Koreans dashed hopes of an all-Malaysian final by beating surprise semi-finalists Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-14, 21-15.
The match between Sze Fei-Izzuddin and Seung-jae-Won-ho will be a repeat of the Indian Open final where the former won in three games.
The Korean hotshots though claimed sweet revenge by coming out on top over the Malaysians in the All-England second round en route to winning the title in Birmingham in March.
Seung-jae-Won-ho are the undisputed best men’s doubles pair this year after also capturing the Malaysian Open, German Open and Indonesian Open titles together and finishing runners-up in the Singapore Open.
Can Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who have reached their first final since winning the Indian tourney, deny the Koreans and give themselves a timely confidence boost like they did in Japan last year?
The pair will be attempting to become the first Malaysians to claim the men’s doubles title in the Japan Open more than once.
Meanwhile, it was the end of the road for Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei in the mixed doubles after they went down 12-21, 16-21 to China’s world No. 2 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei were hoping to reach their maiden final this year but found the Chinese duo hard to break down and lost in just 38 minutes.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Malaysians unless stated
Men’s singles: Alex Lanier (Fra) bt Koki Watanabe (Jpn) 21-19, 21-15; Shi Yuqi (Chn) bt Christo Popov (Fra) 21-12, 28-26.
Men’s doubles: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani bt Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han (Tpe) 21-19, 21-11; Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) bt Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 21-14, 21-15.
Women’s singles: Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) 21-15, 21-18; An Se-young (Kor) bt Riko Gunji (Jpn) 21-12; 21-10.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Nami Matsuyama-Chiharu Shida (Jpn) 21-13, 21-11; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) 21-7, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 21-12, 21-16; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) 21-13, 21-17.
