GOH Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani's hopes of clinching their maiden Super 750 title evaporated at the Axiata Arena in the Malaysia Open men's doubles semi-finals today.
The duo, who have been on fire throughout the week, ran out of ammunition as they went down tamely 21-14, 21-12 to world No 7 Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto of Indonesia.
Admitting they are still nowhere near the Indonesians in terms of standards, Sze Fei lamented: "They (Fajar-Rian) are playing at a much higher level than us, and I would say that was the reason we lost today.
"We tried our best but it just wasn't enough.
"We have to move on and work on our shortcomings."
The defeat against the Indonesia Masters champions is the Malaysian pair's sixth in seven meetings, including the Swiss Open final in March. As for Fajar-Rian, it will be their fourth final appearance this season.
Sze Fei-Izzuddin, who bagged the Super 300 German Open crown in March, will compete in the Super 500 Malaysia Masters which starts on Tuesday.
The world No 12 must get their act together fast, as they will once again face the in-form Fajar-Rian in the first round.
Meanwhile in the men's singles semi-finals, Kento Momota reached his first World Tour final in nine months, when he ousted Thailand's No 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-11, 21-12.
The last time the Japanese two-time world champion came out tops on Malaysian soil was when he captured the Super 500 Malaysia Masters crown in 2020, a day before his near-fatal accident on the MEX Highway when going to take a flight to Tokyo.