Top pair back as World No1

2009/11/01

By Ajitpal Singhajitpalsingh@nst.com.my

KOO Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are the World No 1 again, regaining the spot for the second time in two years.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, who spent between Oct 2007 and Jan 2008 as the World No 1, overtook Olympic champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia after winning last week's Denmark Open.

Markis-Hendra dropped to third behind South Korea's Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae. As for Zakry Latif-Fairuzizuan Tazari, they dropped one rung to seventh while former national pair Choong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah are ninth.



Kien Keat-Boon Heong said recently that becoming World No 1 again was their objective this year and they have achieved it after winning four titles.

Besides winning the Swiss Open, Kien Keat-Boon Heong also nailed the Macau Open, Malaysia Grand Prix Gold and Denmark Open.

Koo Kien Keat (right) and Tan Boon Heong.

They are also on course to winning their third Super Series tournament this year in the ongoing French Open.

In the French Open on Friday, Kien Keat-Boon Heong turned on a fine display to beat England's Anthony Clark-Nathan Robertson 21-12, 21-19 in their quarter-final match.

The Malaysian pair were playing Denmark's Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen, who overcame Indonesia's Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano 21-18, 12-21, 21-15, in a late semi-final match yesterday.



In the women's doubles, top seeds Wong Pei Tty-Chin Eei Hui battled hard before going down to China's Ma Jin-Wang Xiaoli in the quarter-finals. The Malaysian pair lost 19-21, 21-19, 21-17 in 62 minutes.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, however, should learn to control their nerves and also withstand pressure as the last time they were World No 1, a series of miserable results followed.

The Malaysia pair took the World No 1 spot in 2007 just before winning the Denmark Open that year. However, they failed to make an impression after that and eventually lost their ranking.

It took them one year to win another title -- the 2008 Macau Open -- after their Denmark Open success.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong should now work harder and concentrate on next year's World Championships and the 2012 London Olympic Games.

In the men's singles, Lee Chong Wei is still World No 1 followed by China's Lin Dan and Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat.