NINGBO: National men's pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani can make history by winning the Asian Championships (BAC) title in Ningbo, China, today.
The pair have also justified the Badminton Association of Malaysia's decision to include them in the Thomas Cup squad in Chengdu, China, on April 27-May 5.
World No. 19 Sze Fei-Izzuddin maintained their excellent run by advancing to the final by defeating Malaysia's No. 1 and former world champions Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik in the last four.
In an all-Malaysian semi-final, Sze Fei-Izzuddin came out tops with an 21-14, 21-18 upset over Aaron-Wooi Yik in 40 minutes at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin dashed Aaron-Wooi Yik's hopes of reaching the final for the second time after finishing second in the 2022 edition in Manila.
For Sze Fei-Izzuddin, reaching the final of this year's BAC marks their highest achievement at the Super 1000 level.
Previously, their best achievements were winning two Super 300 World Tour titles, the German and US Opens.
"They showed great spirit from the start of the competition and I'm very happy to see them reach the final.
"Hopefully they will keep the momentum going and do well in the final," said national men's doubles coach Tan Bin Shen.
In this year's BAC, Sze Fei-Izzuddin have earlier shown their potential by eliminating world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae of South Korea in the first round before overcoming China's He Ji Ting-Ren Xiang Yu (who withdrew in the second set due to injury) in the second round.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin then defeated Taiwan's reigning Olympic champions, Lee Yang-Wang Chi Lin, in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final showdown with Aaron-Wooi Yik,
Sze Fei-Izzuddin's feat in reaching the final sees Malaysia having representatives in the men's doubles final stage for three consecutive years, starting with Aaron-Wooi Yik in 2022, followed by Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi in 2023.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will take on world No. 3 Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang of China in the final. The Chinese pair had earlier ousted Taiwan's Lee Jhe Huei-Yang Po Hsuan 21-17, 21-17 in the semi-finals.
The last time Malaysia emerged as men's doubles champions at the BAC was through Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah in 2007 as they successfully defended their title won a year earlier.
