SZE FEI-NUR IZZUDDIN FALTER IN QUEST FOR WTF 2024 TITLE

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 (Bernama) -- Professional men’s doubles pair, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani missed out on a chance to become the first Malaysians to capture the World Tour Finals (WTF) title.

This came after Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, fell short, losing 17-21, 21-17, 11-21 in the final match held in Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium that lasted 65 minutes.

Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin’s final match started on the wrong foot as they crumbled under the pressure from the Danes, trailing 1-4 in the earlier stage of the game before losing 17-21.

Despite leading comfortably 4-0 in the second game, the world number seven duo had a nervous moment when a series of unforced errors allowed the opponent, ranked third in the world, to tie the score at 11-11.

However, the momentum quickly shifted in favour of Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who displayed strong attacking play to have a comfortable 17-12 lead and closed it out with with a 21-17 win to force the match into the decider.

It was a neck and neck battle in the third game as both pairs tied at 3-3 but things did not go the Malaysians way as they lost focus and the Danes slowly widened the gap at 11-7, stayed calm to dominate the rest of the game and walked out as the champions with 21-11.

Today’s result meant Astrup-Rasmussen managed to extend their record to eight wins out of 10 matches against Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin.

Astrup-Rasmussen pocketed US$210,000 (about RM934,000) while Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin took home USD100,000 (about RM445,000) as runners-up.

Despite the defeat, Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who made their WTF debut, still had a stellar season, in bagging three World Tour titles namely Japan Open (Super 750), China Open (Super 1000) and Arctic Open (Super 500).

Commenting on their performance, Sze Fei admitted that they couldn’t find the right strategy to overcome the 2023 World Championships runners-up.

Nur Izzuddin, on the other hand, praised the reigning European champions' superior tactics and patience in clinching the title at the season finale.

“This season has been good for us, we’ve achieved things we’ve never done before and hope we can be better next year,” he said in an audio recording from Badminton World Federation shared with the media today.

Earlier, national top mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei also missed out on a chance to capture the WTF 2024 title after a thrilling rubber-game loss to Paris 2024 Olympic Games gold medalists of China Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong, 18-21, 21-14, 17-21, in a 75-minute battle.

-- BERNAMA