PETALING JAYA, Jan 26 — Lee Chong Wei winning the Malaysia Masters GP Gold was no big shout.

But the story is about Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin who scalped higher ranked players such as Son Wan-ho, Xue Song, Angus Long and K. Srikanth to reach the final, where he was comprehensively outplayed by Chong Wei.

“After beating Son, I grew in confidence. Chong Wei was the better player, he was simply too quick for me. I need to work more on my physique after this,” said Iskandar.

“I don't want people to compliment or criticise me excessively. Getting this far was my hard work and I need to build from here. The path is clearer now and moving forward will be the only way,” added the national champion.

He said his next goal was to start playing in Superseries tournaments but would have to improve on his world No 51 ranking to do so as only the top 32 qualify for those event.

His next assignment is this week’s Indian GP Gold where he will have another chance to continue his rise on the world stage.

Iskandar aside, there was a big improvement from other Malaysian players.

Veteran men’s pair Koo Kien Kiat-Tan Boon Heong and mixed pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing also made the final.

New pairing Kian Meng-Pei Jing certainly showed they were made of stern stuff and must now focus on making the breakthrough at senior level.