KUALA LUMPUR: More than four months after splitting up, national shuttlers Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have made a U-turn and agreed to be paired up again.
Doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky said Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin realised “their mistakes” and the pair’s request to be reunited has been approved by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria.
“Yes, I met the two of them earlier. They wanted to meet me before the Malaysia Masters 2023 but I couldn’t make it.
“So, I have informed Tan Sri Mohamad Norza and he okayed it (the reunion),” he told Bernama today.
Rexy said this after Mohamad Norza, through his Instagram Story today, uploaded two photographs of his meeting with Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin that were captioned “One team, once again! They are back”.
The doubles specialist from Indonesia said the pair’s desire to win a place in the 2024 Paris Olympics, with the qualifying rounds starting from early this month until next April, was the main factor that made them want to reunite.
However, Rexy said he will reevaluate whether Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who have dropped to number 32 in the world with 34,800 points, stand a chance to compete in the BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark from Aug 21-27.
The 55-year-old coach also did not rule out the possibility of Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin featuring in the Korea Open and Japan Open in July.
After winning the men’s doubles title in the 2022 German Open, the pair struggled for consistency and were knocked out in the first round of the Malaysia Open and India Open earlier this year.
They lost 21-16, 11-21, 17-21 to China’s Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chan in the Malaysia Open and 21-19, 21-17 to Ren Xiang Yu-Tan Qiang, also of China, in the India Open, which was their last outing together before announcing their split at the end of January.
The BAM then revamped their three men’s doubles pairs after Nur Izzuddin was adamant about splitting up with Sze Fei.
This saw Muhammad Haikal Nazri’s partnership with Wan Muhammad Arif Wan Junaidi since 2019 being broken up for him to pair up with Nur Izzuddin.
Wan Muhammad Arif, meanwhile, was paired up with Yap Roy King, who also plays mixed doubles with Valeree Siow; while Sze Fei combined with Choong Hon Jian.
Meanwhile, Rexy said he has yet to discuss with Muhamad Haikal-Wan Muhammad Arif, who are nicknamed the ‘Patatimo Boys’, whether they want to be reunited or not.
Describing Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin as a pair with a bright future, Mohamad Norza, in a posting on the BAM Facebook page, that he was happy with their reunion.
“I believe they can reignite the fire they once had and fight their way back to the top. This is very good news for Malaysia,” he wrote. - Bernama
