ants
01-10-2006, 08:48 PM
11th Jan TheStar
PETALING JAYA: After enduring two major disappointments, the national number one men’s pair of Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat are back in the groove after winning the Swiss Open title on Sunday.
And they have now set their sights on achieving their best-ever results in the All-England, which will be played in Birmingham next week.
In the Swiss Open in Basel, the duo were the second seeds and they turned the tables on the top seeded Danish pair of of Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen in the final. They beat the world number seven 17-14, 8-15, 17-14.
The victory comes as a major relief for Chong Ming-Kien Keat, who failed to live up to expectations in the Manila SEA Games and National Grand Prix Finals in Kota Kinabalu last month.
In the SEA Games, they were beaten by Indonesians Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kidho in the semi-finals. Then they failed in the defence of their National GP Finals title, losing to Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui in the final.
“It is good to be back on the winning track, especially after the failures in the SEA Games and the national meet,” said Chong Ming.
“We had played against the Danes twice before, beating them in the 2004 Singapore Open and losing in the Japan Open. It was close and we are happy that we have gone 2-1 up on them.”
Chong Ming added that the All-England would be a much tougher tournament for them.
“The top pairs from Indonesia and China did not compete in the Swiss Open. But they will be challenging for honours in the All-England. I will be satisfied if we reach at least the semi-finals,” he said.
The draw for the championships will be made today and Chong Ming hopes that they will get a favourable one.
Indonesia have World Championships runners-up and world number one Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto, Hendra-Markis and Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto among their entries.
China’s world number three Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng will be defending the title while Denmark’s hopes are on the 2004 champions Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen.
Last year, Chong Ming-Kien Keat were beaten by Korean youngsters Han Sang-hoon-Hwang Ji-man in the second round.
Said Kien Keat: “I will be making my second appearance in the All-England with Chong Ming. We feel good after the Swiss Open victory and we hope to get past the early rounds.”
Kien Keat made his debut in the All-England in 2004 partnering Gan Teik Chai and they were eliminated in the second round.
He was paired up with Chong Ming after the 2004 Athens Olympics and they went on to win the Taiwan and Danish Open titles.
For Chong Ming, his best result in the All-England was a third round appearance in 2003, partnering Chew Choon Eng.
Besides Chong Ming-Kien Keat, the other Malaysian men’s pair for the All-England are 2004 runners-up Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui, Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Teik Chai.
The last Malaysian men’s pair to win the All-England title were the Sidek brothers, Razif and Jalani, in 1982.
PETALING JAYA: After enduring two major disappointments, the national number one men’s pair of Chan Chong Ming-Koo Kien Keat are back in the groove after winning the Swiss Open title on Sunday.
And they have now set their sights on achieving their best-ever results in the All-England, which will be played in Birmingham next week.
In the Swiss Open in Basel, the duo were the second seeds and they turned the tables on the top seeded Danish pair of of Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen in the final. They beat the world number seven 17-14, 8-15, 17-14.
The victory comes as a major relief for Chong Ming-Kien Keat, who failed to live up to expectations in the Manila SEA Games and National Grand Prix Finals in Kota Kinabalu last month.
In the SEA Games, they were beaten by Indonesians Hendra Setiawan-Markis Kidho in the semi-finals. Then they failed in the defence of their National GP Finals title, losing to Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Lin Woon Fui in the final.
“It is good to be back on the winning track, especially after the failures in the SEA Games and the national meet,” said Chong Ming.
“We had played against the Danes twice before, beating them in the 2004 Singapore Open and losing in the Japan Open. It was close and we are happy that we have gone 2-1 up on them.”
Chong Ming added that the All-England would be a much tougher tournament for them.
“The top pairs from Indonesia and China did not compete in the Swiss Open. But they will be challenging for honours in the All-England. I will be satisfied if we reach at least the semi-finals,” he said.
The draw for the championships will be made today and Chong Ming hopes that they will get a favourable one.
Indonesia have World Championships runners-up and world number one Candra Wijaya-Sigit Budiarto, Hendra-Markis and Alven Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto among their entries.
China’s world number three Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng will be defending the title while Denmark’s hopes are on the 2004 champions Jens Eriksen-Martin Lundgaard Hansen.
Last year, Chong Ming-Kien Keat were beaten by Korean youngsters Han Sang-hoon-Hwang Ji-man in the second round.
Said Kien Keat: “I will be making my second appearance in the All-England with Chong Ming. We feel good after the Swiss Open victory and we hope to get past the early rounds.”
Kien Keat made his debut in the All-England in 2004 partnering Gan Teik Chai and they were eliminated in the second round.
He was paired up with Chong Ming after the 2004 Athens Olympics and they went on to win the Taiwan and Danish Open titles.
For Chong Ming, his best result in the All-England was a third round appearance in 2003, partnering Chew Choon Eng.
Besides Chong Ming-Kien Keat, the other Malaysian men’s pair for the All-England are 2004 runners-up Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah, Fairuzizuan-Woon Fui, Tan Bin Shen-Ong Soon Hock and Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Teik Chai.
The last Malaysian men’s pair to win the All-England title were the Sidek brothers, Razif and Jalani, in 1982.