KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Sze Fei–Nur Izzuddin Rumsani underlined their determination to end the season on a strong note after powering into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
Though they have been ruled out of the lucrative season-ending World Tour Finals (WTF), the world No. 4 pair showed no signs of deflation as they battled past Taiwan’s Liu Kuang Heng–Yang Po Han 21-23, 21-17, 21-10 in Sydney — extending their head-to-head dominance to 3-0.
Sze Fei–Izzuddin let slip a 13-9 lead in the opening game but displayed impressive resilience to regain control before storming through the decider.
The duo will be keen to redeem their season, which promised much at the start but never truly regained the momentum that once took them to the world No. 1 spot.
They were in scintillating form in the second half of last year, clinching titles at the Japan Open, China Open and Arctic Open, and finishing runners-up at the World Tour Finals.
They then opened the 2025 season brightly by winning the India Open in January, but results dipped thereafter.
Their only other standout performance came at the Japan Open, where they narrowly missed out on a successful title defence.
A semi-final breakthrough at the Kumamoto Masters last week, their first in four months, has offered signs of revival — and they will want to close the season on an encouraging note ahead of 2026.
Sze Fei–Izzuddin will next face the veteran mixed-nationalities partnership of Goh V Shem–Choi Sol Gyu for a place in the semi-finals.
Rio Olympics silver medallist V Shem showed he is far from done after he and South Korea‘a Sol Gyu swept aside Yap Roy King–Wan Arif Junaidi 21-19, 21-13 earlier in the day.
On paper, Sze Fei–Izzuddin will start favourites against V Shem–Sol Gyu — but they will know better than to take the seasoned pair lightly.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
