PETALING JAYA: Former world No. 1 men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are keeping their focus on themselves ahead of the Asian Championships, rather than getting caught up analysing their rivals.
Independent coach Ameer Amri Zainuddin said the duo are working to rediscover their rhythm, with consistency the main priority heading into the tournament in Ningbo from April 7-12.
Although they are targeting a strong result, Ameer stressed that maintaining their level on court matters more.
After regaining confidence by winning the Indonesian Masters in January, Sze Fei-Izzuddin struggled to maintain that momentum during the European leg.
They exited in the quarter-finals of the German Open before crashing out in the second round of the All-England.
“We’ve had good preparation and their confidence is improving. Before this, they were struggling a bit, so now we just want them to stay consistent with their rhythm on court,” said Ameer.
“Of course we want to win, but if they lose while putting in a strong performance, it is still acceptable. Previously, some of the defeats were hard to assess because we couldn’t clearly identify the issues during matches.
“Now we’ve managed to pinpoint them – for example, what happened at the All-England, and we’re working on improving in training and avoiding the same mistakes,” said Ameer.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will open their campaign against world No. 54 pair Chaloempon Charoenkitamorn-Worrapol Thongsa-nga of Thailand.
“The Asian Championships is always a tough tournament because many of the world’s best players are from this continent.
“We want to see them execute the tactics we’ve prepared, but at the same time, they’ve also worked on a wider range of options to add more variety to their game,” he added.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin have yet to win the Asian Championships but have consistently impressed, often returning with medals.
They claimed bronze in Manila in 2022 and followed it up with silver in Ningbo two years later, finishing runners-up to China’s Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang.
