Malaysia Men’s Doubles Badminton News Loses Mentally to Indonesia

Despite the marked improvement, men’s doubles badminton player Goh Sze Fei believes the Malaysian pair are still at a disadvantage against the combination of Indonesia and Japan.

Just this season, Sze Fei and his partner Nur Izzuddin Rumsani failed to win the Swiss Open title by the Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto. And was sent to the quarter-finals of the recent Thailand Open by Japanese number 1 Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi. Malaysia’s top-flight duo Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik have lost twice to Fajar-Rian this year in the Germany and Thailand Open semifinals.

Earlier this month, world number 6 Malaysia failed to win the Asian Championship crown. When they lost to the rising Indonesian pair Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Rambitan. As the national camp prepares for the next Indonesia Masters (7-12 June) and Indonesia Open (14-19 June), Sze Fei noted that it was very important for him and his teammates to overcome mental and physical barriers against Indonesian and Japanese opponents.

“It’s hard to explain, but mentally when we play against Indonesia or Japan, we lose a little bit. Game-wise, the two of them are very different. The Indonesian pair focused on half-field and forward attacks. While the Japanese combination combines defense and attack. Yes, our partner has improved greatly, but we must overcome this barrier. Mentally, we have to be better, but they won this game at the moment,” said Sze Fei.

The world number 12 will open their Indonesia Masters campaign against Alexander Dunn-Adam Hall of Scotland. They are also in the top half of the same draw with Aaron/Wooi Yik and world number 10 Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi.

World Leaderboard

Meanwhile, the national men’s singles badminton player Lee Zii Jia rose one step to the fifth position in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings. After collecting 90,378 points from 41 tournaments, he participated. Based on the latest rankings released by BWF, Zii Jia surpassed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting from Indonesia, who currently sits in sixth place with 87,879 points.

Zii Jia’s achievements also put him in the same league as former badminton national singles champion Datuk Lee Chong Wei, who once ranked himself among the world’s top five. Meanwhile, Danish Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen remains world number one, followed by Kento Mamota of Japan in second place. The 2022 season has been going well so far for professional player Zii Jia, as he grabbed his first title of the year by topping the Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in Manila, Philippines, earlier last month.

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