KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 – Professional men’s doubles pair Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani delivered a stellar performance to clinch their third title of the year by winning the Arctic Open 2024 in Vantaa, Finland, Sunday.
In the final at the Energia Areena, Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin came from a game down to dash Danes Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen’s hopes of defending their title in the Super 500 tournament.
After a sluggish start saw them lose the first game 15-21 to the Danes, the world number eight Malaysians regained their composure to force a decider with a 21-15 win in the second game.
In the final game, the Malaysians trailed by four points at 7-11 before staging a remarkable comeback to level the scores at 16-16 before Sze Fei’s fiery smash ultimately wrapped up the tie at 21-19 for their fifth World Tour title.
The victory also allowed them to complete a full set of titles across all four World Tour levels (Super 300, Super 500, Super 750 and Super 1000).
The win enabled them to take home US$33,180 (about RM142,192) while the Danes pocketed US$15,960 (about RM68,396).
Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin won the Japan Open in August and the China Open last month.
Meanwhile, there was no double joy for Malaysia after the country’s top women’s doubles pair, Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, missed the opportunity to secure their second title of the year.
Seeded third, Pearly-Thinaah fell to reigning champions and top seeds Liu Sheng Shu-Tan Ning from China, 12-21, 17-21, in a match that lasted three-minutes shy of the hour mark.
