Number one Malaysian pair of Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat favourite for India Open Super Series
Malaysia’s number one pair of Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat is the favourite to win the men’s doubles title in the upcoming India Open Super Series 2011.
The top pairs from Denmark, Korea and China are skipping the event that puts the Malaysian pair at the top in the men’s doubles draw of the event that begins from 26 April, 2011 in New Delhi, India.
The Malaysian duo is yet to win any event since their last victory in the Malaysia Open Super Series in 2010.
The world number three duo of Boon Heong and Koo Kien lost to the young Malaysian pair of Ow Yao Han and Chooi Kah Ming in the recently held Kuala Lumpur Open. The men’s doubles national coach, Rexy Mainaky is targeting the World Championships 2011, which
is set to be played in August 2011 in England.
The coach tried to cover up the bad performance of Boon Heong and Koo Kien in the Kuala Lumpur Open by calling it an off day for the duo.
“There are off days for players and unfortunately for Koo and Tan, it was at the KL Open,” said Rexy. “Their ultimate goal is to do well at the world championships. But it will be good if they can win a title before that. And I hope they will achieve it
at either the India Open or the home tournament (Malaysian Open GP Gold).”
It is somewhat surprising that the world number one pair of Carsten Mogensen and Mathias Boe of Denmark will not fly to India to participate in this event. The Danish pair knows that their absence in the India Open will not disturb their world number one
ranking as they are far ahead in the points table.
Together with the Danish duo, the world number two pair of Lee Yong-dae and Jung Jae-sung of Korea and the world number four Chinese pair of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng will skip the event. The Chinese and Korean pairs will be playing in the Badminton Asia Championships,
which will kick off from 19 April, 2011.
Boon Heong and Koo Kien have an easy draw in the India Open and if they manage to win this super series event, they will grab the second spot in the men’s doubles world rankings.
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