Sze Fei-Izzuddin’s withdrawal from tournament reward or punishment?

KUALA LUMPUR – National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani’s withdrawal from Hylo Open this week was due to poor performance in recent tournaments, said Badminton Association of Malaysia doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky.

Rexy explained that it was necessary to bring them home so that the coaching team could focus on improving their weaknesses before the Malaysia Open in January.

Another men’s doubles pair that also underperformed and was brought home were Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee.

“Withdrawing from the tournament could either be a reward or punishment, but we have specific reasons for doing it,” said the Indonesian.

“When we decided to send Sze Fei and Izzuddin to compete in Europe, our target was for them to qualify for a spot in the World Tour Final, but they failed in the Denmark and French Open.

“Same goes for Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun.

“If their performance is good, we reward them. If not, we look at ways to improve them.”

He added that the decision was made after receiving feedback from the coach who accompanied the players to Europe, Tan Bin Shen.

Considering the upcoming Malaysia Open, which will be held in January of next year, Rexy said the best thing to do is continue their training and focus on improving their areas of weaknesses.

“Climbing up the rank is not just about participating in as many tournaments as they can, instead possessing the quality to compete and produce results.

“With the sponsors that we have at the moment, we cannot do things arbitrarily because it is also our responsibility to do something impactful.

“Our plan is to play the long game,” he added.

At the Denmark Open last month, Sze Fei-Izzuddin lost in the first round to Taiwan’s Lee Yang-Lu Chen, while Wei Chong-Kai Wun lost to Indonesia’s Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana.

Subsequently, both duos lost to their contenders in the second round of the French Open where Sze Fei-Izzuddin went down to Shohibul-Bagas and Wei Chong-Kai Wun to India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty. – The Vibes, November 1, 2022