Koo-Tan on a double mission in HK Open
Latest News 2:22 PM
KUALA LUMPUR: Top men’s doubles shuttlers Koo Kien Keat-Tan
Boon Heong can kill two birds with one stone in the Hong Kong Open,
which begins on Wednesday.
If they do, they can make up for all the near misses they have endured this year.
Their two missions in Hong Kong will be to end their losing streak against South Koreans Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong and win their first Super Series title this year.
National coach Rosman Razak believes that the World Championships and Asian Games silver medallists can pull it off if they can stay motivated throughout the competition.
The Hong Kong Open is the last of the 12-leg Super Series, which has seen the Malaysians emerging runners-up twice – at the Swiss and Japan Opens.
At the penultimate leg in the China Open, which ended in Shanghai yesterday, Kien Keat-Boon were beaten by Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong in the quarter-finals.
The Malaysians are in the same quarter with the Koreans in the Hong Kong Open. The others are Denmark’s Mads Conrads-Petersen-Jonas Rasmussen and Indonesians Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano.
Rosman said it would not be easy for the Malaysians to be in high spirits all the time.
The Hong Kong Open will be their fourth competition in a row following the team and individual events at the Asian Games in Guangzhou and the China Open.
“They have to psyche themselves up for the challenging tasks that await them in Hong Kong. This is their last chance to end their chase for a Super Series title,” said Rosman in a telephone interview.
“In the China Open, they could not keep the momentum going. They tend to be easily distracted when they go through a bad patch.
“We (the coaches) will do our best to fan the fire in them to keep the Malaysian flag flying high here.”
In the same half are Taiwan’s Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu, Indonesians Luluk Hadiyanto-Candra Wijaya and Malaysian back-up shuttlers Chan Peng Soon-Lim Khim Wah.
In the lower half with second seeds and reigning Asian Games gold medallists Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia are world champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng and reigning China Open champions Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae of South Korea.
Yesterday, Jae-sung-Yong-dae defeated China’s young pair of Chai Biao-Zhang Nan 21-15, 21-12 in the final.
All the other four titles were won by China, with the biggest surprise coming from their two-time world junior champion Chen Long in the men’s singles event.
The 21-year-old came back from a game down to beat compatriot Bao Chunlai 9-12, 21-14, 21-16 for his first Super Series title.
If they do, they can make up for all the near misses they have endured this year.
Their two missions in Hong Kong will be to end their losing streak against South Koreans Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong and win their first Super Series title this year.
National coach Rosman Razak believes that the World Championships and Asian Games silver medallists can pull it off if they can stay motivated throughout the competition.
The Hong Kong Open is the last of the 12-leg Super Series, which has seen the Malaysians emerging runners-up twice – at the Swiss and Japan Opens.
At the penultimate leg in the China Open, which ended in Shanghai yesterday, Kien Keat-Boon were beaten by Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong in the quarter-finals.
The Malaysians are in the same quarter with the Koreans in the Hong Kong Open. The others are Denmark’s Mads Conrads-Petersen-Jonas Rasmussen and Indonesians Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano.
Rosman said it would not be easy for the Malaysians to be in high spirits all the time.
The Hong Kong Open will be their fourth competition in a row following the team and individual events at the Asian Games in Guangzhou and the China Open.
“They have to psyche themselves up for the challenging tasks that await them in Hong Kong. This is their last chance to end their chase for a Super Series title,” said Rosman in a telephone interview.
“In the China Open, they could not keep the momentum going. They tend to be easily distracted when they go through a bad patch.
“We (the coaches) will do our best to fan the fire in them to keep the Malaysian flag flying high here.”
In the same half are Taiwan’s Fang Chieh-min-Lee Sheng-mu, Indonesians Luluk Hadiyanto-Candra Wijaya and Malaysian back-up shuttlers Chan Peng Soon-Lim Khim Wah.
In the lower half with second seeds and reigning Asian Games gold medallists Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia are world champions Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng and reigning China Open champions Jung Jae-sung-Lee Yong-dae of South Korea.
Yesterday, Jae-sung-Yong-dae defeated China’s young pair of Chai Biao-Zhang Nan 21-15, 21-12 in the final.
All the other four titles were won by China, with the biggest surprise coming from their two-time world junior champion Chen Long in the men’s singles event.
The 21-year-old came back from a game down to beat compatriot Bao Chunlai 9-12, 21-14, 21-16 for his first Super Series title.
Posted by Lucas Liau
on 2:22 PM.
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