2007/04/15 Asian Badminton Championships: Top pair scrape through


By : K.M. Boopathy


(http://www.nst.com.my/Article/pp_index_html?did=20070415075755)
http://www.nst.com.my/Sunday/Sport/20070415075755/insidepix1
National doubles coach Rexy Mainaky (right) gives Koo Kien Keat a tongue lashing during the semi-final against Taiwan’s Tsai Chia Hsin-Hu Chung Hsien yesterday. Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong won 18-21, 21-16, 21-10.



ALL ENGLAND champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong dished out a sloppy performance yesterday against Taiwan’s Tsai Chia Hsin-Hu Chung Hsien before managing a 18-21, 21-16, 21-10 win to make the men’s doubles final of the Asian Championships at Johor Baru City Stadium.
For the Malaysians, the 44-minute struggle was a rude awakening and their worst performance since winning the gold in the Asian Games last December.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong flirted with defeat until the Taiwanese started committing errors in the second game to spare them the embarrassment.

In the other semi-final, defending champions Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah defeated compatriots Fairuzizuan Tazari-Zakry Latif 11-21, 21-13, 21-15 in 40 minutes.

Kien Keat’s over confidence almost ruined the day for the Malaysian fans as the 22-year-old lost his focus and committed many unforced errors.
Kien Keat, usually reliable in crucial stages, chose the wrong moment to play to the crowd and this led to Chia Hsin-Chung Hsien capitalising on the situation. Boon Heong tried his best to unravel things, but Kien Keat’s erratic game led to the Malaysians looking vulnerable.

But Boon Heong managed to take control in the third game and this turned the tide their way.

An apologetic Kien Keat said: "This can be considered the worst performance of my career. I just lost focus.

"Maybe I was over confident. It’s a good experience for us. I was never under this kind of pressure situation before.

"I promise this will not happen again. My movement on court was so slow and I don’t understand what happened.

"Our target is to make sure that we don’t lose to a foreign pair. Now we have made it to the final. We are playing our teammates and anything can happen."

Boon Heong said: "I didn’t play well and probably my lack of warm-up led to it. We need to get our act right as Tan Fook-Wan Wah will not be easy to play."

An upset national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky took Kien Keat to task and told him to behave more professionally and respect the opponents.

"I’m unhappy with Kien Keat's performance and I’ve told him to forget about (winning) the World Championships or the Beijing Olympics if this is his attitude," said Rexy.

"Koo was over confident and it happened at the wrong time. We won the second game because the opponents made mistakes or else Kien Keat-Boon Heong would have packed their bags and headed home.

"Koo needs to be more professional and he must not look down on his opponents just because he has won big tournaments.

"Their training has also been disrupted by plenty of functions. I plead to everyone involved to spare the boys from these activities. Let's work together so that they can be focused on their Olympic target."

Tan Fook-Wan Wah, who had said that Kien Keat-Boon Heong are favourites, must be fancying their chances in the final after witnessing their struggle yesterday.


oh dear,hope he not lost focus again.:o

actually im glad tat they are being "bombed" by rexy especially kkk..
they must "wake up" and everything have to start from zero after all the winning and celebrations.. back to the training mood and not think that they are already very good after ending MAS drought of gold medals for few tournament.. this is just not the right attitude

agree with winnie....

Rexy is the key to KKK/TBH's success.......LWW/CTF can win the match because they have more experience and can set to auto-pilot when they are without the coach. KKK/TBH cant.

KKK/TBH lost in final of the ABC tournament earlier on. i guess it will be a turning point of losing for them. without Rexy together with them giving advices, they will be no where near to beat any pair at all. all the pairs around the world will be thinking if LWW/CTF can beat them, why not the other foreign pairs? a coach can't be always stand by your side and giving you advices. there are times where the coaches will not be around due to some circumstances. therefore, as professional players, they need to be tactful when hitting that kind of situation.*do reminded that KKK/TBH lose in Korean Open semifinal where Rexy was not with them!*

well, indeed they are still young and have a lot of experiences to cope. at the moment, they are still semi-pro level although having won a few tournaments. i am sensing they wont be winning any tournaments anymore. Singapore and Indonesian Super Series will be hard for them after losing the ABC tournament to LWW/CTF; a physiological attack to them. they might perform well, BUT IF ONLY Rexy is with them in every match they will be playing.

as for LWW/CTF, they are only 'world champion' when playing against own teammates. when they are facing the other foreign pairs, their legs will be shaking throughout the match, with or without their coach :D

hiahhahaiahiahaihaihihi......."world champion" when playing against team mates.

hey u guys arr..dun say the veteran like that la.. i think they are almost perfect in form today..almost no loophole and they play faster games than kkk/tbh too..

i do think kkk/tbh need to grow up mentally n cannot always rely on their "daddy" rexy all the time.. u can expect rexy to be with them in every tournament or stay as malaysia MD coach forever, rite?

LWW/CTF, they really great players. if they were to play like what they did just now, they can beat any top pairs i assure of that. but too bad they are only in good form when they are playing against their own teammates due to no pressure and know well of each other's playing style. for example, if you are playing against with your friends, you will be not having pressures at all too..

you are absolutely right that they cannot always rely on their coach. like i said, as professional players, they need to be tactful when hitting that kind of situation that coaches are not around during their game play. therefore, they are still consider as underdogs...

i think their victory this time convey some message.. both CTF/LWW try to tell the worlds that they are still very good altho their age are catching up and with the emergence of new top pair from malaysia, they still capable to beat them..tats what i think.. and also they try to teach kkk/tbh a lesson to not too over confident/look down ur opponent/think they are great after all the victory in major tournament

i think KKK is the one to be blame as he was over confident....he spoilt TBH's play. after this defeat, KKK's play will become very sloppy based from his character. unless he can grow..i think TBH more mature than KKK... as for CTF/LWW they are good teacher though..hahaha...

hey u guys arr..dun say the veteran like that la.. i think they are almost perfect in form today..almost no loophole and they play faster games than kkk/tbh too..

i do think kkk/tbh need to grow up mentally n cannot always rely on their "daddy" rexy all the time.. u can expect rexy to be with them in every tournament or stay as malaysia MD coach forever, rite?
I agree with u Winnie.The credit must give to CTF-LWW.They played extremely well.Fast attacking,accurate netplay...More importantly their not-giving-up attitude on the right track.As for KKK-TBH,i think they were not mentally prepared,perhaps still in the mood of the victorious celebration? Especially KKK seems like a small boat in a sea losing direction.He was not focus at all.I was wondering was it because Rexy not there giving guidance or he was over confident?The defeat was a wake up call for KKK-TBH.Hopefully this defeat would bring them back to earth and they must keep their feet firmly on ground.

They lost because after the All England, their training has been disrupted by lots of social events. When you training goes down, your condition goes down and your focus goes down.

You need fitness, skill, consistency and concentration to win the match. It seems KKK has dropped in some of these areas. Some players know how to bring themselves out of such slumps. I wonder if KKK can be one of those players.

i can see that they will not win any tournaments at the moment, not the Sin, Indo, China Super Series and others. tough road ahead for them. everyone knows their style of play already....we'll just have to wait for the World Championship.

Its normal for them to lose focus. Anyway they are still young. They will learn from this event. You wont know what is lose until you tasted it. I'm sure the boys heard this from Rexy.

Yes, it takes time to train up to the same level as well. Easy to go down but harder to train up. Don't expect them to win the next couple of tournaments.

Yes, it takes time to train up to the same level as well. Easy to go down but harder to train up. Don't expect them to win the next couple of tournaments.

agree...will have to wait till World Championship...then only tournament will boost them up again.

I said already their basic skill are still a distance aways. dun always said them are superstar ok? See today they are tested by their senior tan fook/wan wah . what a games by two malaysia vateren. Actualy tan fook/wan wah was good but sometimes they are emotional or mentally weak. see today they play malaysia all england champion. because thay have no pressure, everything they have come out. Superb smash by tan fook. It show how was the koo/tan defences. and koo/tan smash cant fight them at all, lack of power. I can say that this is the battle of the basic skills no obvious strategy from both pair. U can see now how was their basic skills now?

is there any possibility that it was a fixed game too? hahaha......is there? coz i have never seen KKK like this before. and when he was disappointed during the match, he's a bit over reacting in his expression (to show that he really fight to win?).......not like any match before.

let's say that it was a fixed game. what's the possible motive behind this? to give LWW/CTF extra ranking points?

Rexy trying to play the LY(China coach) game, fixing the future seeding for his players ???

Anyone ! Will there be a repeat telecast on the MD game ? Missed it - thanks

I said already their basic skill are still a distance aways. dun always said them are superstar ok? See today they are tested by their senior tan fook/wan wah . what a games by two malaysia vateren. Actualy tan fook/wan wah was good but sometimes they are emotional or mentally weak. see today they play malaysia all england champion. because thay have no pressure, everything they have come out. Superb smash by tan fook. It show how was the koo/tan defences. and koo/tan smash cant fight them at all, lack of power. I can say that this is the battle of the basic skills no obvious strategy from both pair. U can see now how was their basic skills now?


Yes, I agree. In the final against their own countrymen in an arguably less important tournament there is very little pressure, so the Skills, power techniques shines takes more importance than the Mental strength. LWW/CTF are obviously superior in this situation.

And I agree to call them superstars already is silly. They have not played more than 10 tournaments together yet. (I think)

IMHO you guys are totally unrealistic to think that KKK/TBH can win every single tournament they play in.

In any case they didnt play like their normal selves today, almost as if they had not planned to fight too hard against the veteran CTF/LWW. I doubt that they would take it so easily against a foreign pair.

Let's see how they fare in the next few tournaments. Anyway I would still rate them as a "superstar" pair if they can get into at least the semis in S'pore, Indo and/or China.

hiahhahaiahiahaihaihihi......."world champion" when playing against team mates.

It goes to show the mind can be lured to think they can beat anyone. Having said that, I think LWW-CTF have been training hard and they want to win again. So we cannot take anything away from their win...it was a good front court display by them.

In today profesional sport, there is not much gap between physical, strategy, stamina and equipment between opponent. Is the MENTAL state that determine a true world champion. I hope they dont end up like HH!

is there any possibility that it was a fixed game too? hahaha......is there? coz i have never seen KKK like this before. and when he was disappointed during the match, he's a bit over reacting in his expression (to show that he really fight to win?).......not like any match before.

no lar! kkk's play was so "not his usual self". Too much party i think. His net interception was poor, defence was poor, reaction time was poor, etc etc. I can see that his sloppy play affected TBH's too. If i were TBH, i will be staring at KKK the "wtf" look (ie the Cheah Soon Kit look) most of the time. :p

no lar! kkk's play was so "not his usual self". Too much party i think. His net interception was poor, defence was poor, reaction time was poor, etc etc. I can see that his sloppy play affected TBH's too. If i were TBH, i will be staring at KKK the "wtf" look (ie the Cheah Soon Kit look) most of the time. :p

yeah, tat look is kinda stil fresh in my mind.:D:D:D:D:D.....pity SBK.