Skip to main content

Coach: New plan can save Koo-Tan

single
IT has been attempted before but doubles coach Pang Cheh Chang believes a revamped training programme will help Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong bounce back from their slump. According to Cheh Chang, the World No 5 pair need a slight change in their game to re-establish themselves among the world's top four pairs.

"Kien Keat-Boon Heong are not thinking enough on court unlike the top pairs from China, South Korea and Europe," said Cheh Chang after an informal meeting between coaches and BA of Malaysia (BAM) officials in Bukit Kiara yesterday.

"They need to elevate their game to the next level like what China's Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng and Korea's Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae have done.
"Tan Kim Her (head coach) and I are working closely to find solutions. Anyway, I have started implementing changes to their game."

Cheh Chang, however, said Kien Keat-Boon Heong are still Malaysia's best bet for gold at the London Olympic Games.

"Kien Keat and Boon Heong have quality but tend to be individualistic at times. They need to implement new strategies to remain relevant," added the coach.

"We have to help them regain their form and confidence.

"I am confident Kien Keat-Boon Heong will be medallists in London."

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, gold medallists, at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, lost 21-16, 21-19 to Denmark's World No 13 Mads Conrad-Petersen-Jonas Rasmussen in last week's French Open second round.

This came in the wake of their embarrassing first-round defeat to South Korea's No 3 Kwon Yi Goo-Cho Gun Woo in the recent Denmark Open.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong made headlines in September when they said they wanted Cheh Chang as their new coach over Rexy Mainaky to revive their careers, which BAM agreed to.

However, the pair's performances have instead dipped to an all-time low.

Cheh Chang claimed Kien Keat-Boon Heong have been working extremely hard in training.

"In fact, they are putting in extra hours. I believe they have lost confidence, so this is something they need to work on," he said.

BAM confirmed that Korean Yoo Yong Sung, appointed on a six-month probation, will have a hand in coaching Kien Keat-Boon Heong for one session a day.

"Yong Sung's no-nonsense attitude and training drills could help Kien Keat-Boong regain their form," said Cheh Chang.

On whether Kien Keat-Boon Heong will compete again this year, Cheh Chang said it would depend on how well they responded to the new training system.

Read more: NST

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ex-coach's jail sentence cut to a year

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal yesterday sentenced former athletics coach C. Ramanathan to 12 months' jail for molesting two junior athletes 19 years ago. A three-man bench led by Datuk Mohd Hishamudin Mohd Yunus unanimously dismissed Ramanathan's appeal against conviction, but varied the jail sentence of four years to a year, which was to run concurrently. Following yesterday's ruling, Ramanathan, 75, a former teacher, walked out a free man as he had served 10 months in Kajang Prison. Convicts get one-third remission for good behaviour while in prison. However, he will lose his pension. Hishamudin, who sat with Datuk Abdul Wahab Patail and Datuk Linton Albert, said the court found no merit to overturn the conviction. "However, in reducing the sentence, we considered Ramanathan's age and the long years the appeal has taken." Deputy public prosecutor Awang Armadajaya Awang Mahmud submitted that then High Court judge Tan Sri Abdull Hamid E...
2 comments
Read more

Badminton: Fans rooting for all-Malaysian semis

Reports: RAJES PAUL KUALA LUMPUR: The home fans will be rooting for an all-Malaysian men’s singles semi-final between Lee Chong Wei and Liew Daren. But Chong Wei is more fancied to advance than Daren in quarter-final matches against Indonesian Simon Santoso and Dane Peter Gade-Christensen respectively at the Putra Stadium in Bukit Jalil today. Yesterday, Chong Wei defeated Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh 21-9, 18-21, 21-7 in a second-round match that saw the world number one struggling to adapt to the draught in the stadium in the second game. And Daren continued a fairy tale run in his home Open, blowing away a toothless Hsueh Hsuan-yi of Taiwan 21-14, 21-12. Although Choong Wei had to slog for the win over Tien Minh, the top seed and defending champion felt that he was playing better by the day. “I got off to a good start but found it hard to cope with the draught. I tried to catch up after losing my momentum but that did not happen and I decided to conserve energy for ...
11 comments
Read more

Rajagobal Let Off The Hook

PETALING JAYA, April 24 (Bernama) -- National head coach Datuk K. Rajagobal was let off the hook by the Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Disciplinary Committee after finding no evidence that he had violated FAM's Article 88, as claimed. FAM Disciplinary Committee chairman Datuk Taufik Abdul Razak said the committee had decided not to charge Rajagobal after carefully analysing the video of the post-match press conference by the 56-year-old coach. "After listening to the recording of the post-match press conference, we decided to drop the charge against Rajagopal as he did not make such a statement. "Maybe his (Rajagobal) assessment and comments of the match was misconstrued by the media. There was no mention of the FAM policy throughout his comments," said Taufik after emerging from a three-hour Disciplinary Committee meeting at Wisma FAM in Kelana Jaya, here, Wednesday. Rajagobal who does not mince his words when asked to com...
4 comments
Read more