Lady luck is shining bright on beleaguered men’s doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong in the city of light but will they take their chances well?
Yesterday, the duo continued to enjoy another stroke of luck as three pairs withdrew from their quarter to give them a danger-free passage into the quarter-finals of the World Championships.
After the team managers meeting yesterday, it was confirmed that Thailand’s Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech had withdrawn because Maneepong had been served a three-month ban by the Badminton Association of Thailand for his involvementin an ugly brawl with Bodin Issara at the Canadian Open.
Two others – Germany’s Peter Kaesbauer-Josche Zurworne and India’s Pranaav Jerry Chopra-Akshay Dewalkar – have also pulled out from the tournament.
With that, Kien Keat-Boon Heong, who have a first round bye, sealed a ticket to the third round without lifting their racquets.
In the third round, they will take on the winners of the match between Lee Chun Hei-Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong and Canadians Adrian Liu and Derrick Ng.
Their first real challenge will start in the quarter-finals, where they are expected to take on one of these pairs – Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang, Shin Baek-cheol-Yoo Yeon-seong of South Korea and China’s Hong Wei-Shen Ye.
There is a lot at stake in the world meet for Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, who have mpt wpm a Super Series title since the Malaysian Open in 2010.
If they do not meet the target of reaching the final, they will be either split up or dropped from the national team.
Kien Keat, however, has been quite productive in the world series and he will hoping that the lady luck will not desert him – especially when his career is at stake.
For the record, Kien Keat-Boon Heong reached the final of the world meet in 2010 in Paris. Kien Keat also won a bronze medal with Wong Pei Tty in the mixed doubles in Madrid (2006) and another bronze medal with Boon Heong in Hyderabad (2009).
The men’s doubles will only be played tomorrow and the other Malaysians who will be in action are Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong, Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif.