[UPDATED] Malaysia Open: Men’s doubles duo Sze Fei-Izzuddin advance into semis

KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s doubles duo Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin advance into the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open after taking down Chinese pair Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi 21-11, 22-20 today in front of a full Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil. 

The 12th seed Malaysians came out the gates strong, winning the first set in a swift 11 minutes. 

Playing the first Malaysian match of the day, the crowd was deafening as the pair closed out the win in a thrilling back-and-forth second set. 

They did not play in the second round yesterday after being handed a walkover by India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty. 

“It was not an easy game today, they were really tough in the second set. 

“The points were very close, they did not go down easily. But we just needed to be patient,” the pair told reporters after the win.

Sze Fei-Izzuddin previously played the Chinese pair at the German Open in March, in which they emerged as champions. 

“We did not want the match to go into the third set, but if it had come to that, we were ready for it.

“We got a good rest yesterday because of the walkover. No matter who we play tomorrow in the semis we just have to prepare ourselves,” they added. 

They will either play comrades Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi or Indonesian duo Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto tomorrow.

Meanwhile, national women’s doubles pair Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing are out of the Malaysia Open after losing to world number six Japanese duo Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara 21-15, 23-21. 

Despite leading at the start of the first set, Anna-Teoh were overpowered by the higher-ranked Japanese pair. 

In the second set, it came down to the wire as the match went into 20-20, but it was Matsumoto-Nagahara that prevailed to win the match. 

They play China’s Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu tomorrow in the semi-finals. – The Vibes, July 1, 2022