KUALA LUMPUR, March 14 — National men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani carved their own history after beating Chinese pair Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi to claim their first-ever World Tour title at the German Open 2022 today.
The final match of the tournament held in Westenergie Sporthalle, Muelheim, saw Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin fight neck and neck with the Chinese in the early stage of the first game, with the score tied at 7-7 before Yu Chen-Xuan Yi raced to an 11-8 lead at the interval.
The thrilling battle continued after the interval as the unseeded Malaysian duo saved two match points at 20-19 and 21-20, before staging a comeback with Nur Izzuddin producing a ferocious smash to seal the first game 23-21.
However, a series of mistakes proved costly for Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin as they crumbled 16-21 in the next game to give Yu Chen-Xuan Yi a lifeline in the decider.
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin regained their composure to dominate the third game from start to finish, which culminated with Xuan Yi’s failure to take Nur Izzuddin’s powerful smash for the Malaysians to win 21-14 and take their maiden title.
This was the first final in five years for the Malaysians, ranked world number 17.
The last time they reached the final was in the 2017 Malaysian Masters, where they finished runners-up after losing 19-21, 12-21 to Berry Angriawan-Hardianto of Indonesia.
The win will definitely give a boost to Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin ahead of their next competition, the All England 2022 in Birmingham, England, which kicks off tomorrow (March 15).
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin will take on He Ji Ting-Tan Qiang of China in the first round of the world’s oldest badminton tournament.
Meanwhile, Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand, who defeated Malaysian ace Lee Zii Jia in the last four yesterday, continued his fine form to clinch the men’s singles title earlier today with a 21-18, 21-15 win over Lakshya Sen of India.
Other final results
Mixed doubles:
Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (THA) bt Ou Xuan Yi-Huang Ya Qiong (CHN) 21-11, 21-9
Women’s singles:
He Bing Jao (CHN) bt Chen Yu Fei (CHN) 21-14, 27-25
Women’s doubles:
Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (CHN) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (BUL) 21-16, 29-30, 21-19
— Bernama
