Teik Chai-Kien Keat break into senior ranks in style (The Star Online) PETALING JAYA: The young pair of Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat have capped their break into the senior ranks of international men's doubles badminton with the French Open title. They did better than former national number one Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng in the A-grade tournament, which ended in Paris on Sunday. Teik Chai-Kien Keat defeated Denmark's Jesper Larsen-Joachim Fischer Nielsen 15-6, 17-15 to bag their first Open title. Chong Ming-Choon Eng had lost to the Danes in the semi-finals. If the youngsters continue to give strong performances, they could be selected ahead of Chong Ming-Choon Eng for the Thomas Cup Finals, which will be played in Jakarta from May 7-16. The duo may also be placed higher in the world rankings than Chong Ming-Choon Eng when the Olympic qualifying period ends on April 30. Teik Chai-Kien Keat are now ranked 51st in the world and they are 14 rungs below Chong Ming-Choon Eng. The top 16 pairs as at April 30 are assured of a place in the Olympics doubles events, which will feature 19 combinations. Teik Chai-Kien Keat chalked up a noteworthy result in the preceding All-England. They defeated the established Thai pair of Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas in the first round and the result helped push them up the rankings. In the three consecutive tournaments in Europe, which began with the Swiss Open, Chong Ming was renewing his partnership with Choon Eng after a five-month break because of a shoulder injury, he . The 24-year-old Chong Ming admitted that their poor results in the three tournament however, did want to give any excuses for the poor results in the three tournaments had put a dent to their hopes to qualify for the Athens Olympics. They lost in the second round of Swiss Open and were first-round casualties at the All-England. “The defeat by the Danes in the French Open has made it much tougher for us to qualify for the Olympics,” said Chong Ming. National doubles chief coach Yap Kim Hock has included Chong Ming-Choon Eng for two upcoming tournaments – the Korean Open (March 30-April 4) and the Japan Open (April 6-11). But Teik Chai-Kien Keat will get to compete in only the Japan Open. RESULTS Men's singles: Chen Jin (Chn) bt Bjoern Joppien (Ger) 15-9, 15-5. Men's doubles: Gan Teik Chai-Koo Kien Keat (Mas) bt Jesper Larsen-Joachim Fischer Nielsen (Den) 15-6, 17-15. Women's singles: Pi Hongyan (Fra) bt Chen Lanting (Chn) 11-5, 11-8. Women's doubles: Du Jing-Yu Yang (Chn) bt Feng Chen-Pan Pan (Chn) 5-15, 15-4, 15-6. Mixed doubles: Xie Zhongbo-Yu Yang (Chn) bt Nikolaj Zuev-Marina Yakusheva (Rus) 17-16, 15-9.
Therefore, we can deduce that the coaches never intended for the new kids to go to the Olympics. That's why they were sent to all the hard tournaments. Possibly, they were being groomed for the TC finals instead.
Good analysis Cheung, I think you're right. anyway, they have no chance of qualifying for the Olympics now...
