KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 20 — National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Mohd Rumsani advanced to the quarter-finals while top women’s pair Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah were shown the exit in the round of 16 at the World Badminton Championships 2026 in New Delhi, India, today.
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, the tournament's sixth seeds secured their spot in the last eight after defeating Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh-Wang Chi-Lin 21-17, 21-17 in 42 minutes at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The victory saw the Malaysian duo extend their head-to-head record against the Taiwanese pair to 2-1.
“I think we are happy with our performance today but still need to improve to do better next game,” Sze Fei said in a voice recording shared by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to the media.
He added that they just need to play like an underdog and play their best with nothing to lose to enjoy the game.
They are set to face the world top ranked South Koreans, Kim Won Ho-Seo Seung Jae with the two pairs having a 2-3 head-to-head record with Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin losing their most recent encounter at the Japan Open 2026, last month.
However, it was a different story for fifth seeds Pearly-Thinaah who suffered a 22-20, 18-21, 12-21 defeat at the hands of Indonesia’s Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Meilysa Trias Puspitasari.
The 13th-seeded Indonesian pair dominated the rubber set by winning consecutive points to wrap up the match 21-12 and this result marks Pearly-Thinaah's second defeat against the world number 13 pair in seven encounters.
Earlier, Malaysia’s professional mixed doubles pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai also bowed out after losing 15-21, 12-21 to China’s Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi with the defeat seeing the head-to-head record between the two pairs now tied at 3-3. — Bernama
