Malaysia Open: Slump continues for Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong as they crashed out in second round
An appalling slump in the form of Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong continues as they crashed out in Men’s Doubles second round of the 2012 Malaysia Open Super Series on Thursday, January 12, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The World Number Seven Kien Keat and Boon Heong lost to their lower ranked challengers, Kim Ki Jung and Kim Sa Rang of Korea, who have been placed at number 34 in the Men’s Doubles world standings.
The Malaysian shuttlers have been losing to lower ranked opponents for the last two years and they still are lacking the impressive touch in their game. Before the tournament, the coaches were expecting a good performance from the pair in the home event
but again, they are left in disappointment.
The lower ranked and un-seeded Korean shuttlers destroyed the local hopes by beating Kien Keat and Boon Heong in the second round of the tournament. The Malaysians played well but not enough to stop Korean opponents from winning the contest in three games.
The home fans were also disappointed with the poor performance of Kien Keat and Boon Heong, who have not won any major tournament for a prolonged period of two years.
In the opening game, Korean players put up stunning show of top quality badminton and took the game with a remarkable score of 21-16. The Malaysians could not find a good flow in the first set.
However, Kien Keat and Boon Heong found a good momentum in the second game. In this set, the Koreans lost their control at the concluding phase and lost the set with an 18-21 score on the board.
In the deciding game, both sides played fast badminton but the Malaysians made numerous simple mistakes which helped their Korean opponents to take the set with a margin of 21-16. The final score of this pre-quarter-final contest was 21-16, 18-21 and 21-16.
After the match, Kien Keat said, "We followed their rhythm and probably were too eager to win. We followed our emotions... no game plan at all. We really need to find ourselves to return stronger."
He further added, "We need something or someone to guide us out from this slump. I thought we had found our game during training but right now we do not have the confidence to win even a match or tournament.”
If this alarming trend continues, Kien Keat and Boon Heong will not find a good seeding in the Men’s Doubles draw at the 2012 Olympic Games.
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