Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong find a favourable draw at 2012 London Olympics
Malaysia’s Men’s Doubles top players Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong got a favourable draw at the upcoming 2012 London Olympics and now they stand a good chance to prove their worth and clear the group stage to reach into the quarter-final round.
The World Number Eight Kien Keat and Boon Heong have been placed in Group D along with USA’s Tony Gunawan-Howard Bach, Japan’s Shoji Sato-Naoki Kawamae and Korea’s top seeds Lee Yong Dae-Chung Jae Sung.
The draw is not difficult for the Malaysian duo as they have two lower ranked pairs in their group. Their only tough match will be against World Number One Jae Sung and Yong Dae.
However, if Kien Keat and Boon Heong finish at number two in Group D, they will be facing the winner of Group B in which Korea’s Yoo Yeon Seong and Ko Sung Hyun are expected to finish at the top.
Men’s Doubles coach Tan Kim Her is happy with the draw and wants Kien Keat and Boon Heong to win their first match against Jae Sung and Yong Dae.
He stated, “I’m actually happy with the draw. It’s definitely not easy with Jae-sung-Yong-dae but it could have been a lot worse. Kien Keat-Boon Heong’s first match will be against the Korean pair and that is the one that I’m targeting them to win.”
If Kien Keat and Boon Heong win against the Korean duo in the quarter-final battle, they will face the top seeds Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun of China in the semi-final clash.
In order to avoid a semi-final clash with the Chinese shuttlers, Kien Keat and Boon Heong need to win all of their matches in Group D and should finish at the top.
Kim Her added, “The main reason why they need to top the group is because that will put them in the lower half of the draw and avoid China’s Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng.”
Boon Heong and Kien Keat have got a chance to live up to the expectations of their countless home fans. All they need at the moment is mental toughness and a spirit to fight to their maximum limit in order to rise to the occasion.
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