Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat are through to quarterfinal in the All England Premier Super Series
Malaysia’s mens doubles pair of Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat entered the quarterfinal stage after beating Chinese Taipei’s duo of Chen Hung Ling and Lin Yu Lang, in the round-of-16 of All England Premier Super Series 2011, at Birmingham, England today.
The fifth seed Malaysian pair delivered a wonderful performance against Taipei’s pair, who crushed the German pair of Ingo Kindervater and Johannes Schoettler in the previous round.
The Malaysian shuttlers played top quality badminton and defeated the opponents in straight games. Koo Kien - Tan Boon were favourites for this match as they have never lost to this pair of Chen Hung - Lin Yu in their previous meetings. Right from the starting
points, the Malaysians established a wonderful lead of 11-5 till the break.
After the one minute rest, Koo Kien - Tan Boon continued their winning performance by manipulating the weak defense of the opponents and grabbed the opening set by a huge margin of 21-10. Chen Hung - Lin Yu had no answer to the killing smashes and strong
pushes of the Malaysians. The number five seeds finished the opening set by a stunning margin of 21-10, by spending just 10 minutes in the court.
The second game was, however, more thrilling as the score remained tight from both sides till the one-minute break, where the Malaysians were leading by a slight margin of 11-10. The thrill continued even after the interval as both parties progressed equally
till the score entered into the crucial stage, at 18-18. Koo Kien - Tan Boon utilized their experience and kept the bird low to get a high clear. Their tactics worked well and they scored two consecutive points by executing powerful smashes and reached at
20-18.
Chen Hung - Lin Yu again, leveled the score at 20-20 by playing two wonderful pushes from the tape of the net. The crowd became silent at the ending moments of the thrilling game. The Malaysian duo proved their skills by scoring the remaining two points
in a row and clinched the set by a narrow margin of 22-20, in 14 minutes of good fight. The concluding score of the 24-minute match was 21-10 and 22-20.
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