The struggling form of independent men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei–Nur Izzuddin Rumsani has sparked growing concern, leaving many questioning the sudden decline of the former world No. 1 duo.
Their woes continued at the Indian Open yesterday, where they suffered another early exit after losing 14-21, 21-17, 14-21 to Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei–Yang Po-hsuan in the second round, a match that lasted 46 minutes.
As the sixth seeds, Sze Fei and Izzuddin were expected to progress comfortably, especially having won six of their previous seven meetings against the Taiwanese pair. The defeat therefore came as a major surprise, compounded by the fact that they were defending champions.
The pair admitted that slow starts have been a recurring problem, often putting them on the back foot early in matches.
“They played better than us today. Their execution in the first three shots was very strong, and we couldn’t handle it,” Izzuddin said in a post-match interview with the BWF.
Sze Fei echoed his partner’s thoughts, adding: “There are areas in our game that need improvement, and hopefully we can perform better next time.”
A similar pattern emerged last week at the Malaysian Open, where they were also eliminated in the second round by England’s Ben Lane and Sean Vendy.
Adding an ironic twist, the English pair had been working with former national star Koo Kien Keat in their preparations for the Malaysian Open.
Despite recent setbacks, Sze Fei and Izzuddin will have an opportunity to turn things around at the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta next week, which begins on Tuesday.
They are set to open their campaign against the United States duo Chen Zhi Yi and Presley Smith in the first round.
