100 Malaysians, 100 Milestones — LSA100 spotlights national badminton duo Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin, as they climbed up the world rankings and soared through 2024 with back-to-back victories following their reunion last year. Their next goal? The LA 2028 Summer Olympics.
Sometimes all it takes is a common goal to stitch a group back together. This is a sentiment that Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin both share; in an effort to rediscover their footing in badminton, the pair parted ways at the start of 2023, after eight long years of playing competitively together. At the time, fresh from brutal back-to-back defeats at the Malaysia and India Open, Goh had ensured that “it’s nobody’s fault, we just wanted to go out there and do our best all the time.”
But evidently, neither Goh nor Izzuddin could find a ‘better’ match to fill the role. Just over four months after their split — and only less than a year until Paris 2024 — they found their way back to each other, to gear up for the big tournament and make the cut. And while they ultimately did not qualify, the minor glitch only drove them closer together this time around. As it turns out, the Sze Fei-Izzuddin duo are stronger together. Within a year since their reunion, they made a huge leap from No. 12 in the world to No. 8 in the rankings.
“Consistency is one of the parts we have to focus on,” Goh says, when we talk about weaknesses on (or even off) the court. Next to him, with eyes downcast, Izzuddin nods in agreement. Consistency — or perhaps the lack of it — had caused their downfall and eventual split. But in the last few months, the national duo have been rather consistent as victors in back-to-back tournaments. In August they won the Japan Open (Super 750), and the next month they emerged victorious at the China Open (Super 1000). Then just last month, they clinched the gold at the Arctic Open (Super 500).
With that win, the independent players now become the first Malaysian Men’s Doubles pair to join an elite group of players who have won every level of the BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Tour (which also includes their Super 300 victories in the US Open last year and the German Open in 2022). Only four other men’s duo pairings have had such a feat in history.
Despite their differences, what it all boils down to is trust. As long as the pair have each other’s back in the game, they have the chance to be unstoppable.
First of all, congratulations on the back-to-back victories in these past few months. What has been your biggest takeaway this year, especially following your reunion?
Nur Izzuddin (NI): I think my biggest takeaway has been learning to trust the process. Each match taught us that staying focused on our game plan and supporting each other is what leads to our success.
What are some personal challenges that you went through on your way to becoming the athletes that you are today, and how do you overcome them?
Goh Sze Fei (GSF): I think it’s not easy to overcome our injuries and build our mental resilience — the right mindset, every single time. So in each and every moment, we keep learning and trying to maintain our physical and mental health. We try to keep calm, and…
NI: And communicate more with each other.
How would you say you have grown compared to when you first began playing in competitions together eight years ago? Maybe you can share a bit of your background of how you first started.
GSF: I have three brothers, and I’m the youngest one. Both of my brothers are badminton players also, so they were also my inspiration. And of course, I play badminton because of the dream and my family background.
NI: I think for me, it’s almost the same. It comes from my father’s influence. He asked me to join him in playing badminton since I was seven years old. So I started from there, and then slowly I became interested in it and everything, and it became my dream. (laughs)
What is your greatest strength as a badminton player, for each of you?
NI: Strength? I think for me, it’s more to power. Like, my smashing skills.
GSF: Mine is speed. So, I guess my job is trying to get more chances for Izzuddin to attack and smash, especially. (laughs)
What do you believe to be one of your weaknesses, and what are you doing to improve it?
GSF: I think from my side, consistency is one of the parts we have to focus on. So, we try to do our best in every training [session] so that we can maintain our performance all the time.
NI: Yeah, I also think the physical part is important because we’ve got a lot of back-to-back tournaments. So maybe this week we can get to be the champions, but we still need to be consistent for next week. To be able to make it to the semifinals. So, most of it is really physical.
And how do you bounce back from a setback or what you feel is a ‘poor’ performance?
GSF: I think every time we lose, we need to forget about it but also learn from it. And always communicate with each other on what we need to improve.
NI: I think we also need to look back at our match and discuss with the coach, and find out where we need to improve, whether physically or with our strategies.
How would you say your training has evolved from when you first started until now?
GSF: Of course, the intensity has increased, and it also depends on our coach. So every coach has their own skills and we have to learn from them.
NI: I think the higher the level, the bigger the pressure and the challenge to get to where we want to be.
How do you keep yourself disciplined or motivated in what you do?
NI: We need to set the target for every match that we have. Our main target right now is the Olympics. But the Olympics are every four years. So every year, we need to set a target. Maybe we will try to reach the top five in the world rankings. Or, like, next year, we have some major tournaments like the World Championships. So every year, we have to set our target. And that helps us to maintain our passion for the sport.
GSF: As Izzuddin said, the Olympics are our final target. But we also have a short-term target, so we must have a plan to help us work towards that target.
I know you’ve mentioned the physical aspect of it all, but how important is mental preparation compared to physical training? And how do you maintain that?
NI: Yeah, very important. I think everyone has a different way to maintain their mental health. I think every day, we have tough training sessions. So after that, my mental training is with my family. Like, I spend time with them. They are my mental strength in that sense. They give me power.
GSF: Usually I just do what I always do to try to be calm. Not to think too much, and not to put too much pressure on myself.
Finally, what do you hope to achieve for the future — together, and also individually?
GSF: As I’ve mentioned just now, our final target is to qualify for LA28. Since we’ve qualified for the quarter-finals at the end of this year, it’s definitely going to be our target now.
