Coach Kim Her reckons world No. 4 Koo-Tan due a title soon

Improving: Koo Kien Keat (right) and Tan Boon Heong are slowly but surely regaining their confidence and form.

National men’s doubles coach Tan Kim Her is pleased with the progress shown by top pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong and believes that they can notch another good result at the China Open in Shanghai from Nov 13-18.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong have come under much criticism in the past, especially for their poor showing at the London Olympics, But they are slowly but surely regaining their confidence and form.
They made the final of the Denmark Open last month, going down fighting to South Korea’s Yoo Yeon-seong-Shin Baek-cheol.
In the French Open the following week, the pair gave another strong showing before losing in three games to another Korean combination – Ko Sung-hyun-Lee Yong-dae.
That was their third defeat on the trot to a Korean pair since losing to Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang in the final of the Japan Open in September.
But Kim Her is pleased, nonetheless and believes a win will come soon for the world No. 4.
“They have been doing very well since the Olympics and the results in Japan, Denmark and France certainly count as some of their best in the past two years,” said Kim Her. “They are definitely improving and slowly regaining their confidence.
“What’s important is that they are on good terms and understand each other’s role and their aim.
“They still need to work on their finishing because they tend to get tense.
“With the draws in China being quite good, I expect them to deliver better results. But I don’t want to put too much pressure on them, not when they are getting back to enjoying the game now.”
Kien Keat-Boon Heong are seeded third in Shanghai and will face Thai youngsters Patiphat Chalardchalearm-Nipitphon Puangpuapech in the first round.
They should go through to face home pair Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan before setting up a potential quarter-fnial date with sixth seeds Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata of Japan.
If they win, they should face top seeds Mathias Boe-Carsten Morgensen, whom they defeated in the Denmark Open semi-finals.
The other Malaysian pairs in the fray are Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong, Chan Peng Soon-Lim Khim Wah and the professional duo of Gan Teik Chai-Ong Soon Hock.
Courtesy of The Star