KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani kept the Malaysian flag flying when they checked into the semi-finals of the Super 750 Malaysia Open today.
Fired up by fans at Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, the men's doubles world No 12 showed up in emphatic fashion to down recently crowned Indonesia Open champions Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi of China 21-11, 22-20.
The German Open champions are also the first Malaysian men's doubles pair to reach the last-four stage since 2014, when Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah went on to be crowned champions.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who were handed a second-round walkover by India's Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty on Thursday, admitted the one-day rest gave them a slight advantage.
"It definitely helped a little with the preparation for this match (quarter-finals), and we also had an extra day to rest.
"However, that did not mean we had an easy match. The second game was tight, it was really tense. The crowd sure kept us on our feet," Izzuddin said.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin will play the winners of the match between Indonesia Masters champions Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Malaysia's Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi next.
Meanwhile, in the women's doubles, Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing's fairytale run came to an end when they succumbed 21-15, 22-20 to Japan's world No 6 Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagara of Japan.
Just a day earlier, the world No 44 scored their biggest career win when they upset world No 3 Lee So Hee-Shin Seung Chan of South Korea to reach the last eight.