In Malaysian pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin’s men’s doubles final win over South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the India Open 2025 on Sunday; there was a huge influence from ‘daddies’ Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.
The Malaysians won the evenly-poised contest 21-15, 13-21, 21-16, displaying short, quick exchanges, and net domination much like the playing style of their idols.
Goh-Izzuddin paid their tribute to the pair with Setiawan set to retire next week.
“Our idols are Hendra and Ahsan. We have consciously tried to pick up their style of play,” Goh told BWF’s website.
“We are happy that we can overcome our struggles of last week. Kim and Seo didn’t make many unforced errors, and our communication with each other was very good. They didn’t give us many chances as they increased the speed in the second game, and we had to catch up with their speed. This medal means a lot not only to us, but to our team as well, so thank you to them.”
Following the triumph, the pair are aiming for higher ranking.
“If we keep performing well, we can achieve a higher (No.1) ranking,” said Izzuddin. “We had to be patient and not make many mistakes.”
Meanwhile, Japan’s pair Ayako Sakuramoto-Arisa Igarashi won the women’s doubles title while Olympic champion An Se-Young clinched her second consecutive BWF 750 title.
“It was my idea,” said Sakuramoto, of their decision to pair up. “She is an attacking player and gives me a lot of opportunities.”
“It was our first Super 750 final and it means a lot to win this,” said Sakuramoto. “We didn’t expect to win but we have been training for this.”
Dane powerhouse and double Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen became the men’s singles champion.
“To be honest, to win this title is very special to me. Because it has been just a different feeling on court and different preparation. I’m starting to feel like my motivation is back. I’ve been a competitor this week,” Axelsen, who was playing in his sixth India Open final in 10 years, told reporters.
“Since the Olympics, I’ve had a little bit of issues with injuries. And that has been affecting my motivation a little bit. So to be here now and win the title means a lot.
“The first one as a 31-year-old. But again, as I also said in the other interviews, I was in my first final here 10 years ago, which is crazy. So many things have happened in the last 10 years. But it feels very surreal to win this for the third time in my sixth final. It is amazing.”
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