15th Asian Games/Badminton: 'We want to be legends' 11 Dec 2006(NST) "WE want to be remembered in the same way as Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock and Razif Sidek-Jailani Sidek are remembered." That is the aim of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, who ended a 36-year wait for Malaysia by clinching the Asian Games men’s badminton doubles gold. Had they been old enough, the pair would have probably included Punch Gunalan-Ng Boon Bee. When they won the Asian Games doubles gold in Bangkok 1970, Kien Keat-Boon Heong were not born yet. Kien Keat is 21, Boon Heong two years younger and ever since they decided to make badminton their careers, the achievements of Atlanta Olympics silver medallists Soon Kit-Kim Hock and Barcelona Olympics bronze medallists Razif-Jailani have been what they have been bombarded with. Besides their Olympic exploits, the achievements of the two pairs have been numerous but there is every chance, doubles coach Rexy Mainaky believes, Kien Keat-Boon Heong can better that. "Kien Keat-Boon Heong have what is needed to become a good doubles pair, a good defence and a very strong attack. What they need now is to stay level-headed and work hard in training," said Rexy. "I would rate the two as having a similar game to mine with Ricky (Subagja, with whom Rexy won the Olympic, World and Asian Games titles)." Such high praise didn’t come without a warning though as Rexy said the journey for Kien Keat-Boon Heong will be long and arduous and that they still have a way to go before they reach their desired destination — Olympic gold, hopefully, in Beijing 2008. The Asian Games is only the second time the pair have played together since Rexy and chief coach Kim Hock made the decision to partner them. The first was in the Japan Open in October, where they reached the final only to lose to another great pair — Tony Gunawan-Candra Wijaya, but it was only in the doubles in Doha that they showed the qualities Rexy knew all along they had. Unseeded, the road to the final was booby-trapped with quality opposition. They faced sixth seeds Lee Jae Jim-Hwang Ji Man in the third round, the same pair that beat them in the team semi-finals which prompted Rexy to "resign". But Kien Keat-Boon Heong were a determined pair, beating Jae Jin-Jiman, world champions and top seed Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng in the quarter-finals, third seeds Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the semi-finals and fifth seeds Luluk Hadiyanto-Alvent Yulianto 21-13, 21-14 in the final. If Rexy didn’t mince his words about what he expects from the two, Kien Keat-Boon Heong were equally vocal in stating their ambition. "We know now what we want as a pair. We believe we have the talent and I agree that we have to work hard. In Malaysia, everybody remembers Soon-Kit-Kim Hock and Razif-Jailani. I hope that by the time I end my career, I too will be remembered like that,"said Kien Keat. "We know we are still not a perfect partnership and that to be consistent, we must train hard and stay focused. "The coach has spoken to us about the need to stay level headed and we both assured him that we know that our journey has only just started," added Boon Heong. Only in Doha, after an exasperated Rexy dropped Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and split the Chang Chong Ming-Kien Keat combination, it is hard to say which of the four matches they played against quality pairs was the best but their performance in the final was equivalent to that of a veteran pair.
now TBH/KKK become a centre, every MD or coach will pay more attention to them, it's like when nova/butet played together for the first time, they shocked other pairs, zhan/gao and nathan/gail lost to them so badly, after that they are not 'invicible' anymore
I just hope that they will continue the legand and can show us that they are really the best pair...Now all the MD wanna to beat them including china,korea and indo pair...SO,be careful with your opponent and i hope they can keep their good job...We will always support you all...
Legends they will be, with the right attitude in training, and proper preparation, as well as all other factors in making a succesful pair... I really hope Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong will go on to acheive more things in the future... They were by far the best pair i've watched in the last few months, and this is a sign of great things to come... Hopefully i can emulate Koo... hehe... admire his playing and personal style, confident and brave, a fighter! Jia you Koo and Tan! Congratulations once again to them! P.S. This is my 100th post... my first landmark here in BC.. hehe!
from the verge of quitting to extending his stay... what a week! hehe... hmm maybe he 'sengaja' threathen to quit, 'main wayang' maybe.... as famous in Malaysia... hehe... to test his players to rise to the occasion... hmmm maybe? nah...
I agree with Jessica about winning more to show they are the champions but they did extremely well to win this year's AG Congrats KKK/TBH
Monday December 11, 2006 Hats off to Malaysian badminton duo YAP Kim Hock’s position as the Malaysian badminton chief coach was on the line and he wore a worried look after the men’s team fell to a 1-3 defeat by South Korea in the semi-finals a week ago. The National Sports Council (NSC) had not rated badminton as a gold medal prospect but Kim Hock promised to deliver one to the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM). And it took a world-class performance from the young doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong to end a 36-year drought. The unseeded pair, who bore the brunt of criticism from their Indonesian coach Rexy Mainaky a few days after the team defeat, vindicated themselves by beating four higher ranked pairs, including reigning world champions and top seeds Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun of China to bag the men’s doubles gold. They maintained their fiery attacking pace to win all their matches in straight games and under 30 minutes and downed Alvent Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto of Indonesia 21-13, 21-14 in the final. SURPRISE GOLD: Koo Kien Keat (foreground) and Tan Boon Heong bagged the men’s doubles gold medal against all odds. The last time Malaysia won gold in Asiad badminton was in 1970 in Bangkok. Then, Punch Gunalan took the singles and partnered Ng Boon Bee to the doubles title. Boon Bee and Sylvia Ng secured the third gold from the mixed doubles. Since China joined the international badminton fraternity in the late 70s and from the current standard of play, Kien Keat-Boon Heong have certainly achieved a rare feat. The Sidek brothers – Razif and Jalani – only managed bronze in Beijing in 1990. Cheah Soon Kit-Soo Beng Kiang settled for the silver in Hiroshima in 1994, losing to Rexy-Ricky Subagja. And that was the last time Malaysia were represented in an individual final. Hats off to the young Malaysian pair for bagging the elusive Asian Games gold in their first attempt. The Asian Games feature a world-class field, with the exception of Denmark. Kien Keat could barely sleep on Saturday after the win, finding it difficult to believe that they had delivered a gold for Malaysia. “The feeling was great. We were not even born when Malaysia last won gold in the Asian Games,” said the 21-year-old Kien Keat. “The pressure was increasing, especially in the final, when the Indonesians started pile it on. But I got the confidence when we managed to overcome a two-point deficit to go to 11-10 in the second game. We opened up a big lead after that and that was when we knew we would win it.” The 19-year-old Boon Heong, who only began training regularly with Kien Keat a month ahead of the Doha Asiad, said that their self-belief grew after beating Haifeng-Cai Yun. “The coaches (Kim Hock and Rexy) did not advise us much on the tactical skills. Rexy only told us to maintain our usual game but he gave lots of positive encouragement. Most importantly, he wanted us to stay focused on the task.” Boon Heong added that their main target now was to qualify for the World Championships in Kuala Lumpur next year. HOW KIEN KEAT-BOON HEONG WON THE GOLD MEDAL First round: beat Hasan Sayed-Hasan Jafar (Bru) 21-1, 21-3 (8mins) Second round: beat Hwang Ji-man-Lee Jae-jin (Kor) 21-18, 21-14 (27mins) Quarter-final: beat Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun (Chn) 21-9, 21-19 (26mins) Semi-finals: beat Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) 21-16, 21-13 (20mins) Final: beat Alvent Yulianto-Luluk Hadiyanto (Ina) 21-13, 21-14 (27mins)
LOL... I know what they mean but I really hope they will not be remembered in the same way as Cheah/Yap and Sidek brothers... Always runner-ups... Anyone agree with me that Koo/Tan is the Malay version of Cai/Fu? This guy TBH really has big smashes. He got many points using that.
Not all, not yet wait until next year when they meet candra and tony I dont use gold medals for benchmarking but rather the masters of the game
Hehe, dont think they r like Cai/Fu, they hv far better soft skills" than Cai/Fu. Koo has better front court skills then Cai, while Tan is not as clumsy as Fu.
I think the Malaysian pair is more balance in both the attack and defense, in that sense this pair is potentially better than Cheah/Yap and Fu/Cai. Fu/Cai emphasize more on speed and occasionally power smashes by Fu as Cai is not a power player. I think if China Team up Fu Haifeng and Xia Zungbo will be more threatening than the current Fu/Cai combo. Anyway, it's too early to compare this new pair to any of the former greats, we will how they fair in 2007 in the Super series.
I was not surprised...they are VERY, VERY STRONG and FAST!!!! The way they play is just like Ricky and Rexy
And you can also see that Koo has not attempted to do so many fancy shots. That is an improvement, shows his seriousness. BTW Malaysian legends at Asian Games levels wud be Ng Boon Bee/Tan Yee Khan (winners 62 & 66) and Ng Boon Bee/Punch Gunalan (winners 70). By 1974, the Chinese had arrived, together with the drop in Malaysian team form .....
Agree. I read in BOLA today, Rexy said that TBH is good in smashing, while KKK is smart in placing the shuttle. It is indeed like another Rexy/Ricky pair. Did not we remember that Rexy good at smashing and Ricky good in placing the shuttle? Maybe that's why Rexy chose TBH as KKK's partner in the first place...
The old one is but he is tailor-making new ones (wilder) which willl betwitch the oppositions besides the ladies, of course.