KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — Being separated from his playing partner will not be the end of the world for national men’s doubles shuttler Goh Sze Fei’s career, and neither would it end his dreams of playing in the Olympics.
Following the separation from his playing partner Nur Izzuddin Rumsani recently, he can now kiss goodbye to his dreams of playing in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France but the shuttler remains unphased by the setback.
While patiently waiting for the arrival of his new partner, the 25-year-old shuttler said the door is not closed for him to play in the world’s biggest multi-sports event as he vowed to represent the country in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, the United States.
“Yes (play in the 2028 Olympic Games), why not, but I have to discuss with the coach first as to who will be my partner next,” Goh told reporters, earlier today.
Asked about what type of player suits his playing style, Goh, who often plays in the front, hopes to see the coaching team find him a player who is able to play and attack from the back.
He added that he will definitely bear the responsibility of guiding young shuttlers to reach their best level, should the coaching team decide to find a partner who is young.
However, the 2022 German Open champion hopes to share the same goal with his partner in a bid to have a successful chapter, including winning titles for many years to come.
In the meantime, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) men’s doubles coach Tan Bin Shen said the coaching team are still in discussion before finalising Goh and Nur Izzuddin’s new partners and a decision will be announced by doubles coaching director, Rexy Mainaky, soon.
“Goh is more on the front of the court while Nur Izzuddin is more on attacking from the baseline, so we need to find a player who has a style of playing almost like that and only then we can be paired,” he said.
On whether there might be a split up on the current national pair including Man Wei Chong - Tee Kai Wun and Wan Muhammad Arif Wan Junaidi - Muhammad Haikal Nazri to partner Goh and Nur Izzuddin, Tan refused to comment further on such a possibility.
“As I say it is all still in the discussion stage because once we split, we need to think a lot of things on the partnership and everything so we still haven’t got the final answer,” he said.
Meanwhile, BAM High-Performance Director Tim Jones admitted that they need to be vigilant in searching for new partners for Goh and Nur Izzuddin as one cannot cherry-pick a player to partner with them just like that and hope the coaches will find the best formula for both players to start anew.
— Bernama
