Kien Keat-Boon Heong avoid Paris banana skin

MEN'S doubles Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong will have some breathing space when the French Open starts in Paris on Oct 23-28 as they have avoided South Korea's dangermen Ko Sung Hyun-Lee Yong Dae until the quarter-finals.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong, given another year by the BA of Malaysia (BAM) to resurrect their career, will meet South Korea's new combination Sung Hyun-Yong Dae in the first round of next week's Denmark Open in Odense.
Sung Hyun-Yong Dae are South Korea's bets for gold in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and Kien Keat-Boon Heong will be severely tested by them in both Denmark and France.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong, the second seeds in Paris, open their campaign against a qualifying pair before a likely meeting with compatriots Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari or England's Chris Adcock-Andrew Ellis.
Sung Hyun-Yong Dae have a tough second round encounter against China's Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan but should come through to play Kien Keat-Boon Heong.
The opening round in the Denmark Open will give some indication on how well Kien Keat-Boon Heong can fare against Sung Hyun-Yong Dae in Paris.
Should the Malaysians survive, they are likely to play another Korean pair in the form of Kim Ki Jung-Kim Sa Rang, winners of the Japan Open and Indonesia Open grand prix gold last month, in the semi-finals.
Ki Jung-Sa Rang have beaten Kien Keat-Boon Heong in two previous meetings.
National No 2 Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong have an easy first round meeting against Peter Kaesbauer-Josche Zurwonne of Germany but face an uphill task against either top seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark or Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in the second round.
The absence of Lee Chong Wei, who has withdrawn from the event as he will be getting married to Wong Mew Choo on the weekend of Nov 11-12, will see attention shifting to Chong Wei Feng and Liew Daren.
Wei Feng will play a qualifier, most likely Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk of Thailand, in his opening round and is expected to meet Japan's fifth seed Kenichi Tago, whom the Malaysian beat in the Japan Open last month, in the second round.
If Wei Feng advances to the last eight, he will either play struggling top seed Simon Santoso of Indonesia or China's Wang Zhengming.
Daren has a tricky first round meeting against Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen, who finished runner-up in the Taiwan Open on Sunday, and if he advances could play Hu Yun of Hong Kong in the second round.
The quarter-final clash against second seed Sho Sasaki is the hurdle Daren would love to overcome after having lost all three previous meetings to the Japanese shuttler.
Courtesy of New Straits Times