PETALING JAYA: Falling short of their targets so far this year has only added fuel to the fire for former world No. 1 men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in the Malaysian Masters.
The independent duo eased past new combination Chia Weijie-Teo Ee Yi 21-14, 21-12 to reach the quarter-finals for the third consecutive year at the Unifi Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who reached the Malaysian Masters final in their first year together as a senior pair in 2017, will next face Japan’s Kakeru Kumagai-Hiroki Nishi. Sze Fei said there was still work to be done, especially after seeing their campaigns end at that stage in the last two editions.
“I think not everything has gone according to plan. There are still many things we need to improve.
“We have not achieved our target yet, but for now, our focus is on our performance first because that is the most important thing,” said Sze Fei.
On paper, it should not pose too much of a problem for Sze Fei-Izzuddin as they had beaten the world No. 22 pair in the first round of the All-England in March.
However, past results will count for little heading into today’s match.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik will take on China’s Hu Keyuan-Lin Xiangyi for a place in the semis.
Aaron-Wooi Yik beat Julien Maio-William Villeger 21-12, 21-10 to avenge their earlier defeat to the French pair in the second round of the German Open in February. They know Keyuan-Xiangyi, despite being ranked world No. 34, will provide a tough test.
The last time the pairs met was in the second round of the Asian Championships in Ningbo in April, where Aaron-Wooi Yik were pushed hard before coming away with a 22-20, 21-19 win.
“I think we just played the younger pair at the Asian Championships, we will see how it goes in our second meeting,” said Aaron.
