PETALING JAYA: Former world No. 1 men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani showed no signs of fatigue as they cleared the first-round hurdle at the Indonesian Open yesterday.
The first-round match at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta saw Sze Fei-Izzuddin need just 31 minutes to secure a 21-17, 21-16 victory and book their place in the next round.
It was their fourth tournament in as many weeks after competing in the Thailand Open, Malaysian Masters and Singapore Open.
They also had less than a week to recover after returning from Denmark, where they had spent nearly a month preparing for and competing in the Thomas Cup Finals.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will next face either Japan’s Takumi Nomura-Yuichi Shimogami or England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy in the second round.
Veteran pair Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Azriyn Ayub also saw their campaign come to an end after going down 18-21, 10-21 to India’s world No. 30 pair Hariharan Amsakarunan-M. R Arjun.
Meanwhile, Goh V Shem and his South Korean partner Choi Sol-gyu were beaten 18-21, 15-21 by France’s Christo Popov-Toma Junior Popov.
In the mixed doubles, Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin admitted that their tactics had been figured out by Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping as they fell 19-21, 18-21 to the world No. 1 pair from China.
The defeat dashed their hopes of repeating the upset they pulled off against Yanzhe-Dongping in the first round of the Singapore Open last week.
“Of course (we used the same tactics), but I think they were more consistent than us and that was the main reason we lost. She (Dongping) is very strong, but I tried my best to beat her. I lost, so it means I need to work harder,” said Su Yin.
“They were more prepared today and they have more experience. At the crucial points, they were more consistent than us. It’s a bit disappointing because we both played well, but they were more consistent than us,” added Jimmy.
RESULTS
First round (Malaysians only)
Men’s singles: Leong Jun Hao bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-17, 21-17.
Men’s doubles: Hariharan Amsakarunan (Ind) bt Nur Azriyn Ayub-Tan Wee Kiong 21-18, 21-10; Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani bt Wesley Koh-Junsuke Kubo (Sin) 21-17, 21-16.
Mixed doubles: Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) bt Jimmy Wong-Cheng Su Yin 21-19, 21-18.
