SINGAPORE, May 29 — Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani saw their impressive Singapore Open campaign come to an end today after a gruelling run of matches finally appeared to catch up with the men’s doubles pair.
The world No. 8 duo were beaten 21-18, 10-21, 21-14 by Indonesia’s world No. 3 combination Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in a hard-fought quarter-final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
Goh and Izzuddin battled back strongly to take the second game after losing the opener, but were unable to maintain their momentum as the Indonesians pulled away in the decider to seal their place in the semi-finals.
The defeat also handed Fajar and Shohibul a 2-1 advantage in the pair’s head-to-head meetings, having also beaten the Malaysians at the China Masters last September.
While the loss ended Malaysia’s hopes in the men’s doubles competition, it capped another encouraging week for independent pair Goh and Izzuddin, who have continued to establish themselves among the world’s elite combinations.
The Singapore Open marked the latest stop in an intense stretch on the BWF World Tour for the Malaysians, who had reached the semi-finals of the Thailand Open before advancing to the final of the Malaysia Masters over the previous two weeks.
By the time they stepped onto court for today’s quarter-final, Goh and Izzuddin were contesting their 12th match in just 17 days.
Despite the setback, the pair can take plenty of positives from their recent form, having now achieved three consecutive quarter-final-or-better finishes on the World Tour.
