Boon Heong puts faith in unknown Korean coach

Tan Boon Heong is putting his faith in a coach he knows nothing about to help put an end to the rot he and doubles parter Koo Tien Keat find themselves in.
The BA of Malaysia have brought in Korean coach Yoo Yong-sung to inspire and resurrect the flagging fortunes of the national doubles pairs. Boon Keong appreciates that and is hopeful that Yong-sung will inculcate a measure of the renowned Korean mental fortitude in them.
“I never got the chance to watch Yong-sung play, but he has qualities that we lack and we can definitely learn from him, especially in bolstering our mental strength,” said Boon Heong.

Ready to roll: New men’s doubles coach Yoo Yong-sung (centre) reporting for his first day of duty at the Juara Stadium in Bukit Kiara yesterday. — AHMAD IZZRAFIQ ALIAS / The Star.

“Communicating with him may be a problem right now but I believe that where there’s a will, there’s a way."
“It was his first day yesterday and we had a discussion with him and the other coaches regarding our problem. I will discuss the matter further with Kien Keat to come up with a new game plan to improve our play,” added Boon Heong, whose once world-beating partnership with Kien Keat has floundered in recent months.
The 24-year-old Boon Heong readily concedes that their game needs fixing and that he was grateful to all parties for trying to help them sort things out.
The world No. 5 pair of Boon Heong-Kien Keat are currently going through one of the worst spells of their careers, their last title being the Malaysian Open last January.
They crashed out in early rounds at the Denmark and French Opens last month and face the prospect of being unseeded in next year’s London Olympics.
“The blame lies solely with us. We are experiencing some problems with our teamwork and our confidence is quite low,” said Boon Heong.
“In Denmark and France, we had zero combination and got frustrated as our game simply didn’t work."
“It made us play more cautiously and, being low on confidence, our opponents took full advantage of it.”
National doubles head coach Tan Kim Her has backed his top pair to bounce back and prove their critics wrong.
“They have the right attitude and have been training extra hard lately,” said Kim Her.
“But we can’t expect results straightaway.
“We need to give Pang (Cheh Chang) and Yong-sung more time to work with them. It is more important that they peak during the Olympics,” said Kim Her.
Courtesy of The Star