Vantaa: Malaysia’s World No. 8 men’s pair Nur Izzuddin/Goh Sze Fei, and World No. 10 mixed doubles pair, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai, have advanced to the semifinals of the Arctic Open in Vantaa, Finland, on Friday.
Highlights of Nur Izzuddin/Goh Sze Fei vs. Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the 2024 Arctic Open semis:
Izzuddin/Goh were pushed to their limits before securing a hard-fought victory against Indonesia’s World No. 6 Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto in a thrilling three-set quarterfinal match at the Vantaan Energia Areena.
Both pairs delivered intense performances from the first set to the deciding set, but luck favored Izzuddin/Goh as they emerged victorious with scores of 23-21, 19-21, 22-20 in 73 minutes.
Izzuddin/Goh will face the top seeds from China, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang, for a spot in the final on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai lived up to expectations by advancing to the semifinals after defeating their younger Malaysian counterparts, Hoo Pang Ron/Cheng Su Yin, 21-19, 21-15, in just 40 minutes.
They will face China’s No. 2 seeds Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin in Saturday’s semifinal match.
In men’s singles competition, Japan’s world number 14, Koki Watanabe, ended the run of Malaysia’s World No. 4, Lee Zii Jia, in his bid to defend his Arctic Open title.
Lee Zii Jia lost 15-21, 21-13, 12-21 in a quarterfinal match that lasted one hour and six minutes.
This marks Lee Zii Jia’s third defeat against Watanabe, having also lost to him in the China Open and the semifinals of the Swiss Open last year.
Watanabe will next face either Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen. Chou beat Alex Lanier 22-20, 13-21, 21-19.
Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan also made the women’s doubles semis, after beating Chang Ching Hui/Yang Ching Tun of Taiwan 21-8, 21-18. Tan/Muralitharan will take on Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi of Japan next.
