Kien Keat-Boon Heong can end Euro drought

PETALING JAYA: Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong have received a boost to their hopes of winning their first title on European soil in almost two years with the absence of Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan from the Swiss Open in Basel from March 10-15.

Kido is still struggling to recover from a knee injury and his participation in the All-England next week with Setiawan is also in doubt.

In the Swiss Open, the top two Malaysian pairs of Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Latif, who are seeded second and fourth respectively, will surely be out to capitalise on the absence of the world No. 2 Indonesian pair.

However, Kien Keat-Boon Heong will have to be on guard against the Chinese scratch pair of He Hanbin-Sun Junjie in a likely quarter-final match-up.

The duo should clear their first round hurdle against fellow Malaysians Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen.

Fairuzizuan-Zakry can earn a semi-final battle against Kien Keat-Boon Heong if they can turn the tables on Chinese No. 1 Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun. The duo also have a tricky opening round hurdle against Japanese No. 1 Shuichi Sakamoto-Shintaro Ikeda.

If either Malaysian pair advance to the final, they can expect to meet Danish opponents in either top seeds Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen or third seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen.

The last time Kien Keat-Boon Heong won a title in Europe was in Denmark in October, 2007.

“Compared to the All-England, where we will be playing the Danish pair (Boe-Mogensen) if we reach the quarter-finals, this is slightly better chance for us,” said Boon Heong. “But our focus first is on the All-England. We are feeling good about our chances and we will try to come back with at least one title from Europe.”

While the All-England in Birmingham will see the top Malaysian women’s pair of Chin Eei Hui-Wong Pei Tty having to beat the top two Chinese combinations of Du Jing-Yu Yang and Zhang Yawen-Zhao Tingting to make the final, it will be the Korean hurdles lying in wait for them in Basel.

Seeded second, they are likely to face fifth seeds Ha Jung-eun-Kim Min-jung in the quarter-finals and a win could see them going up against Korean No. 1 Lee Hyo-jung-Lee Kyung-won, whom they have never beaten before.

In the men’s singles draw, world number one Lee Chong Wei faces a situation similar to the All-England where he will not be up against a top Chinese shuttler until the final.

However, Chong Wei will have to overcome tough hurdles in Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen to earn an anticipated final clash with Olympic champion Lin Dan.

Chong Wei will play against Japan’s Kenichi Tago in the first round.

Former national players Wong Choong Hann and Sairul Amar Ayob could face first-round exits in matches against Indonesian No. 3 Simon Santoso and Christensen respectively.

Posted by Lucas Liau on 8:44 AM. Filed under Koo Kien Keat, News, Tan Boon Heong . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0