PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are facing an increasingly difficult task in their bid to qualify for the Paris Olympics after suffering early round exits in five consecutive tournaments.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who ended their eight-year partnership last January due to a lack of trust following a string of poor issues, renewed their combination five months later to fight for a spot in the Olympics.
It is an uphill battle as they have to break into the top eight in the world rankings before the qualification period ends in April.
However, Sze Fei-Izzuddin showed a glimmer of hope in accomplishing their mission after getting off to a strong start since reuniting by lifting the US Open title in their first assignment together in July before emerging victorious in the Kaohsiung Masters (September) and Abu Dhabi Masters (October).
Their fortunes, however, took a downturn as they were unable to sustain their impressive form, crashing out in the preliminary rounds of five tournaments – Japan Masters in November, China Masters (November), Malaysian Open, Indian Open and Indonesian Masters (January).
On Tuesday, world No. 21 Sze Fei-Izzuddin went down 21-14, 14-21, 18-21 to world No. 47 Pharanyu Kaosamaang-Worrapol Thongsangsa in the first round of the Indonesian meet at the Istora Senyan in Jakarta.
On paper, Sze Fei-Izzuddin seemed to have a favourable chance, given their previous victory against the Thai pair in the Abu Dhabi Masters final in October last year but they fell short of delivering their optimal performance.
Izzuddin was disappointed with their overall performance.
“It was not our best performance today (on Tuesday),” said the 26-year-old Izzuddin in a post-match interview with SPOTV.
“We could have done better but the opponents also played well today.
“If you look at the points, it was a challenging match, but we were just focusing game by game.
“Thank you for always supporting us and we hope that our teammates can do their best.”
2024-01-24 22:10:44
#Badminton #rocky #road #Paris
