KUALA LUMPUR: National men's pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani are becoming accustomed to beating the world's top 10 opponents of late, with China's Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi being their latest casualties.
World No. 14 Sze Fei-Izzuddin turned in an impressive display to clinch a 21-13, 21-16 win against their world No. 8 rivals in the second round of the Singapore Open today.
The win saw Sze Fei-Izzuddin snap a run of two straight defeats, including one at the India Open in January.
The national No. 2 have now beaten five of the world's top 10 pairs in just one-and-a-half months.
In their run to becoming runners-up at the Asia Championships, they upstaged the reigning world champions and world No. 3 Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea, compatriots Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (No. 5), Taiwan's Olympic gold medallists Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin (No. 9), and China's He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu (No. 10).
Sze Fei attributed their win to better communication between him and Izzuddin.
"We did quite well in the first game and controlled the rhythm," Sze Fei said.
"Communication was the key today. We discussed after every single point and did particularly well with our rotation."
Also through to the quarter-finals were national mixed pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei.
Tang Jie-Ee Wei staged a superb comeback from 17-11 down in the first game to claim a 21-17, 21-18 win over Denmark's Mathias Christiansen-Alexandra Boje.
"The opening of the first game wasn't that good, we were insistent on our tactic, but the opponents gave us a lot of pressure," said Tang Jie.
"However, after the 11th point, both of us discussed with our coach and we changed to a different strategy."
Tang Jie-Ee Wei will face world champions Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung next.
Last week's Malaysia Masters champions Goh Soon Huat- Shevon Lai Jemie gave a good account of themselves by stretching China's world No. 1 Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong to a rubber game before retiring due to Soon Huat's knee injury.
Soon Huat-Shevon took the opening game 22-20, but Si Wei-Ya Qiong drew level with a 21-11 win.
In the rubber, Soon Huat injured his knee, and the pair found it tough to keep up, eventually conceding the match after trailing 11-1.
"We could not continue because against a pair of this calibre, we needed more than 100 per cent to match them," said Shevon.