Boon Heong vows to accomplish two missions with Kien Keat
News 9:49 AM
PETALING JAYA: National men’s doubles ace Tan Boon Heong is the marathon man of badminton.
Despite having gone the distance in four back-to-back Super Series tournaments recently, he still has the energy to try and end the year with a flourish at the SEA Games in Laos from Dec 10-17.
Staying sharp: Tan Boon Heong going through the paces with a fellow shuttler during training at the Juara Stadium yesterday. - RAYMOND OOI/THE STAR With so much energy still to burn, Boon Heong, who will be making his SEA Games debut in Vientiane, is all worked up to accomplish two missions with his partner Koo Kien Keat.
Boon Heong’s first goal is to strike it right in both the individual and team events.
Secondly, he hopes that the SEA Games will serve as a platform to unify the team and underline the men’s strength ahead of the Thomas Cup Finals, which will be held at home next year.
Boon Heong said the Laos outing was one of his priorities this year although “it is a smaller tournament in stature”.
“Koo has competed in the SEA Games before but I have not. I will treat the SEA Games like the Asian Games. To me, it will be an honour to win a gold medal,” said Boon Heong.
“Our outing in the last four Super Series have showed us that we can still last the pace if we put our heart and mind to it.
“We were able to maintain a high standard in our games in the four consecutive Opens and that is a personal achievement for both of us.”
After winning the Denmark Open in October, the duo reached the final, quarter-finals and final of the French Open, Hong Kong Open and China Open respectively.
They will feature in the Super Series Masters Finals from Dec 2-6 before heading for their last stop this season at Vientiane.
“The SEA Games will be our last tournament and both of us are all fired up to end the year on a good note,” said Boon Heong.
Boon Heong-Kien Keat, the 2006 Asian champions, are seeded second in the SEA Games individual event and should reach the final. Their main rivals will be the Indonesians, but they will do well to keep an eye on the Thais and the Singaporeans as well.
They have been drawn to meet Thais Isara Bodin-Jongjit Maneepong in the opening round. They are then likely to meet Singapore’s Hendra Wijaya-Hendri Kurniawan Saputra in the next round.
In the same half are Indonesia’s second ranked pair of Bona Septano-Mohd Ahsan, who are likely to face the Malaysians in the last four.
Another Malaysian pair, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, are in the top half with top seeds Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia and Thailand’s Nuttaphon Nakthong-Patiphat Chalardchalaem.
Playing in the doubles event has made Boon Heong realise the importance of togetherness and that is why he has called on the Malaysian shuttlers to strengthen team camaraderie.
“The SEA Games will be a perfect platform to see where we stand in the team event ahead of next year’s Thomas Cup Finals,” said Boon Heong.
“This same team will probably make it to the Thomas Cup Finals as well. So, we have to start focusing on our team work and build good relationship with one another.
“This will be crucial if we are to win the Thomas Cup next year.”
Besides Boon Heong-Kien Keat and Fairuzizuan-Zakry, the others in the SEA Games team are Lee Chong Wei, Mohd Hafiz Hashim, Liew Daren, Kuan Beng Hong and Lim Khim Wah-Chan Peng Soon.
Malaysia’s main stumbling block in the men’s team competition will again be the Indonesians.
“Indonesia have always been our main rivals at the Thomas Cup Finals. They are sending their best to Laos and it will be great to gauge our strength against them,” said Boon Heong.
If all goes according to the formbook, top seeds Malaysia and second seeds Indonesia are expected to cross swords in the final.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 9:49 AM.
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