ants
01-02-2006, 12:53 PM
Jan 2 TheSTar
PETALING JAYA: Their last two outings have not brought them the desired results and with a place in the Commonwealth Games at stake, the top national men’s doubles pair of Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat are aware that they cannot afford to slip again in the Swiss Open, which begins in Basel on Wednesday.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat are the second seeds in the season-opening tournament of the World Grand Prix badminton circuit.
In the absence of the top Indonesian and Chinese pairs in the four-star tournament, Danes Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe are the top seeds.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat, however, will not find it easy living up to the top billing.
They are likely to meet England’s number one Anthony Clark-Robert Blair in the second round.
Also in their half of the draw are teammates Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, South Korean youngsters Hwang Ji-man-Han Sang-hoon and unseeded Chinese Sang Yang-Zheng Bo, who are making a comeback after a long lay-off because of injury.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat were far from impressive in the Manila SEA Games last month.
They were beaten by Indonesians Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto in the team final.
In the individual competition, they lost to the other Indonesian pair, Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kidho, in the semi-finals.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat also failed in their bid to win a third national title. They were beaten by Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui in the final of the recent National Grand Prix Finals in Kota Kinabalu.
Kien Keat is looking for better fortunes in their first tournament of the year.
“After winning the Denmark Open, there was nothing to shout about for us. We did not do well in the SEA Games and we lost our national title,” he said.
“Our teammates are bridging the gap with us. We have to work harder from now if we want to feature in the Commonwealth Games.”
If the likely second round clash with Clark-Blair materialises, Chong Ming-Kien Keat have a chance to show that they could be relied on for the challenges in the Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Melbourne from March 15-26.
They have never met the English pair before and beating them to reach the quarter-finals will give Chong Ming-Kien Keat an early edge, especially when competitions for places in the team for Melbourne Games are expected to be stiff.
Each country is only allowed to have a team comprising five men and five women. Previous Games allowed a team of seven men and seven women.
“We have to prove our worth for selection and we definitely have to give some good performances in the Swiss Open and All-England,” said Kien Keat.
Besides Chong Ming-Kien Keat and Bin Shen-Soon Hock, the other Malaysian pairs in the fray for the Swiss Open are Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Latif, Wong Choong Hann-Choong Tan Fook and Mohd Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui.
PETALING JAYA: Their last two outings have not brought them the desired results and with a place in the Commonwealth Games at stake, the top national men’s doubles pair of Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat are aware that they cannot afford to slip again in the Swiss Open, which begins in Basel on Wednesday.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat are the second seeds in the season-opening tournament of the World Grand Prix badminton circuit.
In the absence of the top Indonesian and Chinese pairs in the four-star tournament, Danes Carsten Mogensen-Mathias Boe are the top seeds.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat, however, will not find it easy living up to the top billing.
They are likely to meet England’s number one Anthony Clark-Robert Blair in the second round.
Also in their half of the draw are teammates Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock, South Korean youngsters Hwang Ji-man-Han Sang-hoon and unseeded Chinese Sang Yang-Zheng Bo, who are making a comeback after a long lay-off because of injury.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat were far from impressive in the Manila SEA Games last month.
They were beaten by Indonesians Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto in the team final.
In the individual competition, they lost to the other Indonesian pair, Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kidho, in the semi-finals.
Chong Ming-Kien Keat also failed in their bid to win a third national title. They were beaten by Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui in the final of the recent National Grand Prix Finals in Kota Kinabalu.
Kien Keat is looking for better fortunes in their first tournament of the year.
“After winning the Denmark Open, there was nothing to shout about for us. We did not do well in the SEA Games and we lost our national title,” he said.
“Our teammates are bridging the gap with us. We have to work harder from now if we want to feature in the Commonwealth Games.”
If the likely second round clash with Clark-Blair materialises, Chong Ming-Kien Keat have a chance to show that they could be relied on for the challenges in the Commonwealth Games, which will be held in Melbourne from March 15-26.
They have never met the English pair before and beating them to reach the quarter-finals will give Chong Ming-Kien Keat an early edge, especially when competitions for places in the team for Melbourne Games are expected to be stiff.
Each country is only allowed to have a team comprising five men and five women. Previous Games allowed a team of seven men and seven women.
“We have to prove our worth for selection and we definitely have to give some good performances in the Swiss Open and All-England,” said Kien Keat.
Besides Chong Ming-Kien Keat and Bin Shen-Soon Hock, the other Malaysian pairs in the fray for the Swiss Open are Gan Teik Chai-Mohd Zakry Latif, Wong Choong Hann-Choong Tan Fook and Mohd Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui.