Badminton

Next stop Paris, says Sze Fei after reuniting with Izzuddin

KUALA LUMPUR: National men's doubles player Goh Sze Fei is ready to adopt a more aggressive approach in the next tournament with partner Nur Izzuddin Rumsani.

Sze Fei and Izzuddin reunited as a pair on Wednesday after going separate ways four months ago.

Sze Fei wants to ensure their partnership works well as they seek to qualify for the Paris Olympics next year.

Without revealing much about who initiated the move to reunite, Sze Fei said it started last week and was finalised a few days ago.

"It does not matter who made the first move. The important thing is that we must persevere together.

"Our main focus is to qualify for the Paris Olympics. I think the chemistry with Izzuddin is good because we were partners for a long time.

"As we have the same target, we will try our best," said Sze Fei at Academy Badminton Malaysia in Bukit Kiara today.

Sze Fei hopes to further build good communication with Izzuddin to ensure past issues between them do not resurface.

The pair struggled to maintain their consistency after winning last year's German Open, which led to the break up.

BAM then reshuffled the three national pairs after Nur Izzuddin decided to break up with Sze Fei, citing a loss of trust.

The situation meant that Haikal Nazri, who had previously teamed up with Wan Arif Wan Junaidi, teamed up with Izzuddin.

Wan Arif was then paired with Yap Roy King, while Sze Fei formed a combination with Choong Hon Jian.

Sze Fei has apologised to Hon Jian for rejoining Izzuddin.

"We discussed (the separation), and he was feeling down, so I apologised," he said.

With Sze Fei-Izzuddin reunited as a pair, Malaysia will have four men's doubles fighting for Paris Olympic slots.

The others are world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi and Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun.

Each country can send two representatives if ranked in the top eight. The Olympic qualification period ends on April 24 next year.

Most Popular
Related Article
Says Stories