Sze Fei-Izzuddin world number one, joins illustrious list of Malaysian top pairs

In the latest ranking list released by the Badminton World Federation, Goh-Izzuddin have overtaken Danish pair Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen who lost in the semis to Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik at the Malaysia Masters semi-finals last week.

Stadium Astro looks at other Malaysian men’s doubles who have also become the world's top pairs in the past.

The Sidek brothers were the first national pair to kick-off this prestigious list of top men’s pairing in the world in 1989.

They secured the World Championships bronze medal in 1989 and captured several titles on the badminton world circuit that included the World Grand Prix Finals, Hong Kong Open and China Open, besides finishing as runners-up at the Malaysia Open, Thailand Open, Denmark Open and Indonesia Open.

Three years after the Sidek brothers did it, Cheah Soon Kit-Soo Beng Kiang became the next pair to fly the Malaysian flag high.

Besides winning the Thomas Cup and World Cup in 1992, Cheah-Soo also went on to claim top honours at the Chinese Taipei Open, Malaysia Open and finished second at the World Grand Prix Finals.

Cheah went on to partner Yap Kim Hock in the mid-90s and the pair quickly became one of the most fearsome combinations of their era.

Besides finishing second at the 1996 Olympics, Cheah-Yap also took bronze at the World Cup and won the Malaysia Open.

They also finished second at the Korea Open, All England Open, US Open, Hong Kong Open and World Grand Prix Finals.

Chan-Chew were the next pair after the turn of the millennium to help Malaysia retain its glory in the men’s doubles.

Besides inspiring Malaysia to the Thomas Cup final in 2002, Chan-Chew also secured three bronze medals at the Asian Games in Busan, as well as a Commonwealth Games gold medal in Manchester.

On the IBF World Grand Prix circuit, they also won the 2002 Japan Open and finished second at the Denmark Open and China Open.

Choong-Lee who are both from Perak, were next to assume the reins of the world’s best pair.

They won the 2004 Malaysia Open and finished second at the All-England Open, China Open and China Masters which led to their coronation at the summit of the world rankings in 2004.

One of the most skillful and potent combinations of their generation, Koo-Tan were unstoppable during their height.

Besides reaching the Asian Championships final in 2007, they secured a host of titles on the rebranded BWF Superseries circuit.

Koo-Tan won the Malaysia Open, All-England Open, Swiss Open and Denmark Open all that year which led to them reaching the world number one ranking in October 2007.

Malaysia would have to wait almost 10-years to have another world top men’s pair.

But when Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong exploded onto the scene, it was a challenge to stop them.

Besides reaching the 2016 Olympics final where they were one point from winning gold, they also won the Denmark Open, Syed Modi and World Superseries Finals.