4 reasons how Sze Fei-Izzuddin have won 3 top-tier titles in 2 months

Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin are the hottest men’s doubles pair in the world right now, having added the Arctic Open (Super 500) title to the Japan Open (Super 750) and China Open (Super 1000) silverware in the last two months.

StadiumAstro gives an insight to the meteoric rise of this Malaysian pair, who have made sure the badminton world is now paying full attention to them.

Smooth transition from national to professional shuttlers

Goh-Izzuddin’s achievements of winning a hat-trick of titles is made even more amazing by the fact they left the national association to join the professional ranks in between tournaments.

They gave the Badminton Association of Malaysia the perfect parting gift for the trust and investment in their careers throughout the years by winning in Yokohama in August.

Shifting from the guidance of Rexy Mainaky and Tan Bin Shen to Rosman Razak and Teo Kok Siang who are their new coaches also proved a masterstroke, as the world number eight pair immediately followed up with the China Open title which is their biggest career title to date.

Ability to raise their game against world’s top pairs

In the three finals at the Japan, China and Arctic Open, Goh-Izzuddin have played some of the best pairs in the world and triumphed.

They outclassed world number three South Korean pair Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae to win the Japan Open, before battling it out in three closely fought games to edge out Chinese world number five duo He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu to win in China.

In Finland, Goh-Izzuddin recovered from a game down to beat world number two pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.

This was after they overcame world number one Liang Weng Keng-Wang Chang in the semi-finals, and the top ranked Indonesians Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto in the last eight.

Supreme physical, mental and tactical edge

In total, Goh-Izzuddin played for 309 minutes en route to winning the Arctic Open. That amounts to an average 61 minutes per match.

Izzuddin admitted the matches from the quarter-finals onwards were taxing, they played Fajar-Rian for 73-minutes, before the 62-minute contest against Liang-Wang and completing the run after battling Astrup-Rasmussen for 72-minutes.

Their mental strength has also shone throughout, especially in the final when they scored the final four points to overtake the Danes to the title.

As for their strategy, Goh-Izzuddin have proven they are more than just a defensively solid pair. They can play on the counter-attack by switching defence into attack with just one shot return, or go completely on the offense in a rally if needed.

Besides that, both men are also comfortable switching positions from the frontcourt and baseline at any time during a rally to deceive their opponents.

Stronger bond after splitting up

Goh explained one of the key reasons for their success is having absolute trust in each other.

This faith in one another has perhaps been strengthened after the pair reunited last year, after splitting some close to six months prior.

They have rediscovered the joy in playing together and more importantly, sticking together as a team in good and rough times.

And that faith in each other is paying handsome dividends.