What caused Sze Fei-Izzuddin's downfall at Malaysia Masters?
Looking back, the world No. 2 men's doubles felt that they were not consistent enough.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin failed again to land a World Tour title on home soil following an unexpected loss to compatriots and world No. 8 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun.
The high standard that saw them winfour World Tour titles — the Japan, China, Arctic and India Opens last year — was missing this time.
Sze Fei said they need to improve their consistency to be able to stay in the world top three.
"We have to focus on the Singapore and Indonesia Opens. Need to eat well, sleep well and train well," said Sze Fei.
Doing well in the Singapore Open, which begins on Tuesday, and Indonesia Open (June 3-8) will see them strengthen their world ranking or even overtake current Denmark's world No. 1 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen.
Izzuddin, taking the Malaysia Masters setback in stride, said the important thing is not to lose hope.
"Ups and downs are normal for us and our focus is to improve our performance. We have to remain confident and trust each other," he added.
Apart from consistency, Sze Fei-Izzuddin may also have to boost their physical strength and endurance to enhance their explosive playing style.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Free Malaysia Today
10 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
On fire Aaron-Wooi Yik smash their way into China Open final
Today's semi-final success was the 11th time that Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have triumphed over India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty over 14 encounters. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : National men's doubles shuttlers Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik stormed into the China Open men's doubles final and stayed on track for their first World Tour Super 1000 title after defeating an Indian pair. World No 2 pair Aaron-Wooi Yik displayed superb power and defence to overcome the nippy 12th ranked Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 21-13, 21-17 in a semi-final match lasting 41 minutes. They will take on Indonesia's surprise package Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the final. The Indonesians are playing together for only the second time. Today's semi-final victory is the 11th time that Aaron-Wooi Yik have beaten the Indian pair in 14 encounters. The Malaysians, who are two-time Olympic bronze medallists, also set a record by being the first men's doubles pair in the world to qualify for the finals of a World Tour Super 1000 event six times. They will be making their second appearance in the China Open final after finishing as runners-up in 2023 and will be gunning for their fourth title this year after having won the Thailand Open, Singapore Open and the Badminton Asia Championships. The tournament offers a total prize money of US$2 million (RM8.4 million), with winners in the doubles events taking home US$148,000 (RM624,000) and the runners-up US$70,000 (RM295,146). The losing semi-finalists will each get US$28,000 (RM118,000).
Free Malaysia Today
11 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
China's Qin wins ‘miracle' second breaststroke gold at swim worlds
Qin Haiyang celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 200m breaststroke final at the World Aquatics Championships. (AP pic) SINGAPORE : China's roaring Qin Haiyang won his second breaststroke gold of the Singapore swimming world championships on Friday, edging a 200m nailbiter. World record holder Qin touched the wall in 2:07.41, ahead of Japan's Ippei Watanabe (2:07.70) and Caspar Corbeau of the Netherlands (2:07.73). The 26-year-old Qin won the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week but he celebrated his second victory as if it were his first. He punched the air before whipping up the delighted Chinese fans in the arena, who screamed him on to a thrilling victory. Qin started the race in lane eight after qualifying slowest from the semi-finals but it made no difference as he regained the world title he won in 2023 in style. 'Amazing,' said Qin. 'Have you heard of the lane eight miracle? 'I did not know if I was second or third, I just heard 'whoo', so I knew I had won.' The lead changed hands several times throughout the race, with American AJ Pouch and Russian Kirill Prigoda also challenging. In the end it was Qin who got the decisive touch ahead of Watanabe, giving the Chinese swimmer his fourth medal of the championships in Singapore. Qin is returning to form after a difficult time at last year's Paris Olympics, where he did not even make the final of the 200m breaststroke. His preparations for the Games were thrown into turmoil when he was implicated in a major doping scandal months before the Games. A report named Qin among 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for a prescription heart drug ahead of the pandemic-delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympics. They were not sanctioned after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the argument of Chinese authorities that the positive tests were caused by contaminated food.
The Sun
15 hours ago
- The Sun
Thinaah prioritises consistency over world ranking in badminton
NATIONAL women's doubles shuttler M. Thinaah emphasised that consistency matters more than rankings, even as she and partner Pearly Tan reached a career-high world number two spot. The 27-year-old said their primary goal is to maintain strong performances rather than chasing rankings. 'For me, being world number two is just a number. The main thing is to keep performing consistently and supporting each other on court,' Thinaah told reporters after training at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara. She added that preparations for the 2025 BWF World Championships in Paris (Aug 25-Sept 1) are progressing well. 'We are excited to be back training together. The world meet is a big tournament, and we are looking forward to competing there,' she said. Pearly-Thinaah recently climbed to world number two in the latest BWF rankings after a strong season. They won the Thailand Open, finished as runners-up in the Indonesia Open, reached the Malaysia Masters semi-finals, and made the Singapore Open quarter-finals. Their latest achievement was a runner-up finish at the Japan Open, where they lost to China's world number one pair Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning. - Bernama
