Koo-Tan fall in last group match but still make the last eight Malaysia’s Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong lost their last group match to South Korea’s Chung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae 21-16, 21-11 on Tuesday – but they still made the quarter-finals of the badminton event. The Malaysians, who ended up as group runners-up after the loss, will take on the Thai pair of Isara Bodin-Jongjit Maneepong at the Wembley Arena today for a place in the last four. The last group match was of no significance as both the pairs – Kien Keat-Boon Heong and Jae-sung-Yong-dae – had already qualified for the quarter-finals. Malaysia went into the match knowing that they had a choice as to who they wanted to play in the last eight – the Thais or Indonesia’s Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano. Excusable defeat: Malaysians Koo Kien Keat (front) and Tan Boon Heong in action against Koreans Chung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae on Tuesday. But Kien Keat and Boon Heong said it never crossed their minds to lose on purpose. Kien Keat said they wanted to win because “that would have allowed us to avoid top seeds Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China later on”. “We did not play to lose ... it’s just that we lost to opponents who are technically superior. “We will now use the one-day break to recharge for the quarter-finals,” he said. But Kien Keat admitted that they played poorly against the world No. 2 pair from South Korea on Tuesday. “The Koreans were simply better on the day,” he said, vowing to raise their game against the Thais today. The Malaysians had beaten the Thais in the 2009 SEA Games. “The Thai pair showed promise back in 2009 and have been playing well here too,” said Boon Heong. “They have defeated fancied pairs from South Korea and Indonesia to top their group, so we must show them respect and tread with caution.” Doubles coach Tan Kim Her described the loss to the Koreans as “useful”. “We tried a couple of things and it worked initially. “But the Koreans were able to read Koo-Tan’s game and countered very well, putting our boys on the back foot. So there are lessons we can learn from the match,” he said. http://thestar.com.my/sports/olympics/story.aspx?file=/2012/8/2/olympics/11780348&sec=Olympics
Can koo/tan make it 1 more step further than they did last 4 years in Beijing? Everything will be answered pretty soon...in less than 20 minutes..
i have to say, koo and tan alway raise their game against cai and fu. will not be surprised to see that match go the distance... will be close.
and so it was answered in 2 games they seem more determined, fit, lean, mean, and hungry to win... a new and improved version... almost reminescent of their 2007 ae form obviously the thai boys were less experienced, but koo tan nevertheless had very healthy 7 point leads going into the intervals
Actually Koo/Tan is lucky to beat the THA pair la they came back from 6-15 to make it 17-19 and MAS coaches look pretty scared at that moment. Only experience help Koo/Tan to win... otherwise it was bye bye to Koo/Tan by a whisker. I prefer the THA pair go through actually because they could surprise Cai/FU and JJS/LYD whereas Koo/Tan surely lose in straight sets to them because everyone knows their game well.
Were posts in this thread deleted? I predicted earlier this year in this thread that KKK/TBH would come back into form and win a medal at the Olympics, now I cannot seem to find that post...
koo/tan are 3rd in thread/post amount in bc behind lcw and lee yong dae only,so,please find carefully,hehe
if u see through out from the 6 to 15 points u can see clearly Koo/Tan WERE conserving energy. If they play in the semi like dis, obviously they can't win. But let's be optimist bout it, maybe it's another 'strategy' before showing their true form in semi. . . .just my 2 cents
lol, so everytime Koo/Tan lose matches or lose many points in a row it's because they are CONSERVING ENERGY or having something up their sleeves later eh.... really like your conclusion on this... but your also a little bit in a 'koo/tan fan denial' state. Since when do people concede so many points or lose matches when it puts them in a dangerous situation later on.... If anything, it's because Koo/Tan just can't sustain long periods of quality play that separates them from the top pairs in MD.
I'm saying based on my opinion, I've no intention saying what you said is preposterous. What I'm saying is their winning in this game is based on luck is a bit too much. From 6-15 points MAS pairs doesn't show any action to kill the bird as they did in the 1st round. Saying I'm a fan, yes u are right, in denial, no. I'm a fan because I'm Malaysian as Koo/Tan, it runs in my blood to be simple
lol, please tell us about your dream george... we are all very interested to know about it. did you dream the 'godlike' CY/FHF pair choke in the semi finals ? how ? and by how many sets/points ?
i heard Koo Kien Keat not gonna sleep until SF match as he's very very nervous about it, just like before QF match yesterday...
