Anna 
Malaysia’s top-seeded duo, Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, suffered a shocking first-round defeat at the Swiss Open, falling to Japan’s world No. 76 pair, Hiroki Midorikawa and Kyohei Yamashita. The match at St Jakobshalle in Basel on Tuesday ended 25-23, 15-21, 21-11, marking another setback for Sze Fei and Izzuddin after their early exit at the All England last week.
Veterans Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi also faced disappointment, despite putting up a fierce fight against Taiwan’s world No. 12 duo, Lee Jhe Huei and Yang Po Hsuan. Yew Sin and Ee Yi managed to save seven match points and even held one of their own at 22-21 in the second game. However, they ultimately lost 21-18, 28-26.
This defeat adds to a worrying trend for the world No. 33 pair, who have now suffered four consecutive first-round exits since reaching the Malaysia Open quarter-finals in January. Once ranked as high as world No. 6, they also won a bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships.
Another Malaysian pair, world No. 25 Nur Azriyn Ayub and Tan Wee Kiong, also struggled, losing 23-21, 21-18 to Denmark’s world No. 26 duo, Andreas Sondergaard and Jesper Toft. Their European tour has been disappointing, as they have failed to win a single match across four tournaments.
Notably, Malaysia’s men’s doubles representation at the Swiss Open consisted solely of independent players, with no pairs from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) participating.
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