Kuala Lumpur: On Monday, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) has confirmed that they will field Koo Kien Keat with Tan Boon Heong in the World Championships, Copenhagen from Aug 25-31.
According to Badminton World Federation (BWF), each country can send a maximum of three pairs of men’s doubles if they are ranked within the top 24. Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are currently ranked number 24th, which allowed them to qualify for the world meet on merit.
Things were sort of up in the air before Monday since Koo Kien Keat has left BAM in March, but with BAM’s confirmation, Malaysia will have three pairs in the tournament. Two other Malaysian qualifiers are world number 7th, Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong and world number 19th, Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah.
“Khim Wah-V Shem and Thien How-Wee Kiong would benefit from sparring with Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong,” said Chin Chai.
Koo Kien Keat, who are currently coaching and playing for Granular badminton club in Thailand, was delighted to have been given another chance to rejuvenate his career.
“Boon Heong and I have discussed about this, and we both agreed that this would be our last chance to prove that we still got game. We are going to spend the next two months to prepare for the game, and hopefully we can come back and with a strong run in Copenhagen,” said Kien Keat.
