Kien Keat shows he has heart of gold
Top News 11:36 PM
PETALING JAYA: National doubles shuttler Koo Kien Keat has a heart of gold.
Though busy preparing for the World Championships, which will be held in London from Aug 8-14, he has managed to find time to do his part in raising the profile of charity foundation Solibad – Badminton Without Borders.
Kien Keat will take part in a worldwide badminton flashmob at the main entrance of the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil at 11am tomorrow and he has rallied all badminton fans to support the cause.
“This gathering is for a good cause and I hope many fans from Malaysia will join me. This will be one of the biggest gatherings as Rexy Mainaky (head coach of the men’s doubles squad), some of the badminton players and fans from over 60 cities in 40 countries will also take part in this flashmob at the same time in their own locations. It will be historic,” he said.
At your service: Koo Kien Keat has managed to find time to do his part in raising the profile of charity foundation Solibad - Badminton Without Borders
Kien Keat is an ambassador of Solibad and has helped to raise funds for an orphanage in the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur on many occasions.
For the flashmob tomorrow, every fan is urged to bring a racquet, a shuttle and a bright T-shirt matching any of the rainbow colours of the Solibad logo and follow the routine launched by Kien Keat and Rexy.
“It will be fun. At the same time, the badminton family will send out a clear signal that we are here to help underprivileged children in the best way we can,” said Kien Keat.
The other Solibad ambassadors are former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, current Olympic mixed doubles champion Lee Yong-dae of South Korea and 25 world class players – among them Saina Nehwal (India); Jan O Jorgensen and Peter-Gade Christensen (Denmark); Nathan Robertson (England); Kenichi Tago (Japan); and Pi Hongyan (France).
The main objective of Solibad is to raise funds within the global badminton community and to donate the money raised to various local projects, some of which are badminton related.
Solibad founder Raphael Sachetat of France said: “This is a world’s first in sports and we are proud that badminton is able to bring together so many different people, from so many countries, who are not only badminton fans but who also believe that what we do at Solibad can make a difference.”
On his preparation for the world meet, Kien Keat said that he was shaping up well with Tan Boon Heong.
The pair lost to Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China in a closely-fought final last year.
At last month’s Sudirman Cup in Qingdao, Kien Keat-Boon Heong put up a creditable showing when they won all their matches.
They will be competing in the Indonesia Open from June 22-26 as a final warm-up before the trip to London.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 11:36 PM.
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