Skip to main content

Badminton / Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open: Kien Keat, Boon Heong silence critics

Koo Kien Keat (left) and Tan Boon Heong on their way to winning the doubles title in the Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold in Johor Baru yesterday.
Koo Kien Keat (left) and Tan Boon Heong on their way to winning the doubles title in the Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold in Johor Baru yesterday.

KOO Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong answered their critics with a classy performance to clinch their second men's doubles title this year in the Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold at the Johor Baru City Council Indoor Stadium yesterday.

But in the women's doubles, World No 1 Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui failed to recapture the form that won them the Indonesia Open when they were outclassed by China's Ma Jin-Wang Xiaoli, losing 21-9, 21-11 in 29 minutes.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, known for their erratic display, brushed aside former national pair Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen 21-11, 21-13 in just 21 minutes to claim the winners' cheque for US$9,480 (RM33,483).

It was an encouraging victory though the Johor Baru meet was only a second tier event, for the pair who won the Swiss Open in March ahead of the World Championships in Hyderabad, India on Aug 10-16.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong displayed excellent understanding and near-perfect court control and it was evident from the start that they would win the title. They raced to a quick 18-10 lead before winning the opening game 21-11 in only eight minutes. Kien Keat-Boon Heong continued their momentum and led 13-10 before racing ahead for a 21-13 win to claim the title.
"We have played against them many times both in competition and training and it helped us to our win today (yesterday). I'm not sure whether we played well as our opponents were struggling to find their momentum, probably because of the draft in the stadium," said Boon Heong.

As for the world meet, Boon Heong said Kien Keat and himself will be more focused on training for the tournament.

"At this stage, it is tough to set targets. When we made our world meet debut in 2007, we could not handle the pressure. However, after years together we are more experienced and know what to expect.

"Past experiences have taught us never to take any pair lightly. We will discuss with coach Rexy (Mainaky) on our strategy for the world meet," added Boon Heong.

Pei Tty-Eei Hui's performance yesterday was unexpected but the duo felt the defeat is a blessing in disguise. "We could not move well against our speedy opponents. We tried to adjust but the China pair were just too good. It's a good learning experience, making us aware that we need to train harder for the world meet," said Eei Hui.

Rexy said pressure got the better of Pei Tty-Eei Hui. "They felt pressured because they were playing against lower ranked opponents. Most of the points earned by the China pair were because of Pei Tty-Eei Hui's mistakes today (yesterday)," said Rexy.

"It has nothing to do with stamina. They were just out of ideas to overcome the China pair."

Meanwhile, mixed doubles second seeds Zheng Bo-Ma Jin of China won their fourth consecutive title when teammates Xu Chen-Zhao Yunlei retired. Zhao Yunlei twisted her right knee with the score at 5-5 in the first game.

NST

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’

Saya setuju. We are working on more coaches! “ @ManOlimpik : Malaysian junior athletes are just too ‘lembik’ http://t.co/7D7wmHWaNy ” — Khairy Jamaluddin (@Khairykj) June 10, 2014 The benchmark. Can our junior athletes train as hard as Malaysia's world No.1 badminton player, Lee Chong Wei? “IT IS okay lah. The training is not too bad lah. I will try lah … Wah, so hard lah today.” These are some of the common statements I hear from our juniors nowadays. It is not only in badminton. It is the easy-going, laid-back attitude and lack of competitiveness at grassroots level that we have problems producing quality players. I have travelled quite a bit. After ending my decade-long career with the national team, I went to play in the league in Europe. It’s different there. The European athletes know what they want. And they do it with real focus. Even the young ones possess admirable self-control and show a high level of commitment. During my time in the ...
12 comments
Read more

Organising Major Sports Events Can Inspire Sports Culture Among The People - Khairy

PUTRAJAYA, June 5 (Bernama) -- Organising major sports events can help inspire sports culture among the people and ensure a healthy lifestyle said Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin. Khairy said the Tour of Malaysia cycling race organised since 1963, for example, can encourage more people to take the sport in a more competitive way or just for recreation purposes. "A study carried out by a world renown medical journal, The Lancet, revealed that 61 percent of adults in Malaysia do not engage themselves in active sports. "A study by the Health Ministry revealed that only 25 percent of Malaysians exercise," he said in his speech when launching the 2013 Tour of Malaysia (Jelajah Malaysia) at the Youth and Sports Ministry, here, Wednesday. "Cycling, though not as popular here as in countries like Denmark, the activity is becoming popular among the people as can be seen through an increase in sale of bicycles for recreation," he sa...
Post a Comment
Read more

KBS realistik

TERUJA...Shabery (dua dari kanan) melancarkan Logo Tahun Industri Sukan 2011-2012 di Casa 1, MSN, semalam.    KETIKA beberapa sukan utama diletakkan sasaran meraih pingat khususnya emas di Sukan Olimpik 2012 London, penyertaan bola sepak dan hoki sebagai keluarga baru program Road To London pula dilihat sekadar membantu mereka melepasi kelayakan. Mungkin bersikap lebih realistik dengan keupayaan kedua-dua sukan itu di pentas lebih tinggi, Menteri Belia dan Sukan, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek mahu segala bantuan diberikan kepada sejumlah 50 pemain bola sepak dan hoki kebangsaan bagi membolehkan mereka tersenarai sebagai kontinjen ke London. “Bagi acara hoki dan bola sepak, kita tidak boleh melihat bantuan perlu diberi selepas mereka layak tetapi kita akan cuba bantu mereka supaya mereka layak. “Tiada kompromi terhadap misi mendapatkan emas pertama tetapi sasaran kita tahun ini ialah mendapatkan seberapa ramai atlet ke Sukan Olimpik,” katanya selepas mempen...
Post a Comment
Read more