2025-10-07,KUALA LUMPUR

Defending men's doubles champions Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani have withdrawn from this week's Arctic Open in Finland, casting uncertainty over their condition and campaign in the ongoing European leg of the World Tour.

The world No. 3 pair's names were missing from the updated draw released on Monday evening, with no official statement from either player on the reason behind the decision.

Their withdrawal comes as a surprise, particularly as the duo had just competed at the Badminton-XL Invitational team tournament in Jakarta last week.

Sze Fei featured for title-winning Team Hurricanes, while Izzuddin turned out for Team Lightning, led by Denmark's two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen.

It remains unclear whether one of them had picked up an injury during the invitational event, but their absence could prove costly in the world rankings, with Denmark's Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen — last year's Arctic Open runners-up — lurking closely behind at world No. 4.

The Danes are now well placed to narrow the gap or even leapfrog the Malaysians should they enjoy another deep run in Vantaa this week.

Sze Fei-Izzuddin's withdrawal also ends hopes of a much-anticipated all-Malaysian final, as they and Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik were the top two seeds in the draw.

Aaron-Wooi Yik, who lifted the the Asia Championships, Thailand Open and Singapore Open titles this season, will now shoulder the nation's main challenge in Finland.

That said, the onus is now on Malaysia's second-echelon pairs — notably world No. 20 Wan Arif Junaidi–Yap Roy King and world No. 45 Choong Hon Jian–Haikal Nazri — to make their presence felt.

A solid run from either combination would not only boost their ranking ambitions but also underline the growing depth in the national men's doubles department.

With no official word yet from Sze Fei or Izzuddin, questions remain on whether they will be fit to resume competition at next week's Denmark Open, the first of four consecutive European tournaments that also included French Open and Hylo Open in Germany.