Koo-Tan deserve to stay as a pair based on their world rankings

Far from finished: The way Koo Kien Keat (left) and Tan Boon Heong have responded since failing to secure a medal at the London Olympics shows that all is not lost.

STATISTICS – or rather the world rankings – don’t lie.
And that being the case, Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong certainly deserve to stay together for the next two years, at least.
The pair will end the season with only the Malaysian Open Grand Prix Gold title under their belt but the way they’ve responded since failing to secure a medal at the London Olympics shows that all is not lost.
They were ranked outside the top five at the beginning of the year and not many believed they would be able to contend for a medal at the London Olympics in July.
And they nearly proved their critics wrong.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong reached the semi-finals but lost in the playoff for the bronze medal to South Korea’s Lee Yong-dae-Chung Jae-sung.
Any lesser pair would have crumbled under such a devastating blow but the Malaysians rolled up their sleeves and bounced back stronger to reach the finals of the Japan Open and Denmark Open right after that.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong were also quarter-finalists in the French Open, semi-finalists in the China Open last month and finalists again in the Hong Kong Open recently.
They have slowly crept up to No. 2 in the world rankings and should continue to be a thorn to the likes of Olympic champions Fu Haifeng-Cai Yun and current world No. 1 Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen of Denmark.
Doubles head coach Pang Cheh Chang admitted that Kien Keat-Boon Heong “are no doubt still the best men’s doubles pair in the country” judging by their consistency in the second half of the year.
“They still combine well. Our only concern is getting them to maintain this consistency. That’s the hardest part,” he said.
“They have the ability to fight and beat the other top pairs who are still around after the Olympics.
“It’s now about getting them to finish off their opponents.
“We also need to take care of their condition as the badminton season is now hectic, with compulsory participation in the five Premier Super Series and five Super Series events.
“They played in 15 international tournaments this year.
“The ranking is not so important but the goal for them next year will be to shine at the World Championships in Guangzhou and the Sudirman Cup, which we are hosting in Kuala Lumpur,” added Cheh Chang, who was pleased with their overall performance in the ongoing World Super Series Finals in Shenzhen.
The Malaysian pair were denied a place in the last four despite getting the better of Olympic silver medallists Boe-Mogensen on Thursday.
Haifeng-Cai Yun joined Boe-Mogensen in the semi-finals from Group A on better points difference compared to Kien Keat-Boon Heong.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong, who will play with different partners in the National Grand Prix Finals in Alor Setar from Dec 27-30, will resume their partnership for the Korean Open and Malaysian Open next month.
Courtesy of The Star