KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia men’s duo Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani look forward to face their Indonesian opponent Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, again, in the Malaysia Masters 2022 tomorrow.
Despite losing to the world’s seventh-ranked pair in the semi-finals of the Malaysia Open 2022 on Saturday, the pair popularly known as DinFei said they must improve their mental agility first before they are ready to face the Indonesians again.
“Their advantage is that they are consistent (in their games). They are in sync and play well in each game.
“What happened in the past (losing to Fajar-Rian), we have to move on and learn from our mistakes,” Izzuddin said when met at the test-court session today at Axiata Arena.
World number 12 Sze Fei-Izzuddin had faced the Indonesian duo six times in the past, of which they only managed to overcome them once during the Denmark Open 2021 in the quarter-finals.
However, they lost to Danish pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the semis.
Sharing the same sentiment as his partner, Sze Fei admitted that Fajar-Rian have been tough opponents to defeat.
“To be honest, it was not easy to defeat them but we will do our best for the upcoming match (Malaysia Masters).
“I think the most critical part is to improve our mental strength. In doing so, we would always talk to our coach about our situation. I hope we can do better this time.
“(Facing Fajar-Rian) is going to be a huge challenge but we cannot avoid it. We just have to face them and overcome our weaknesses,” he said.
When asked how they plan to strengthen their mental state, Izzuddin said he and Sze Fei would look back on their errors in the previous matches and figure out ways to improve “again and again”.
Having a couple days off – from the Malaysia Open semis – also gives time for them to recover before the Malaysia Masters starts tomorrow. – The Vibes, July 4, 2022
