MALAYSIAN top pair Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong’s first real test starts in the quarter-finals of the World Championships on Friday and both have promised to pass with flying colours.
Today, in their first match in the world meet at Tianhe Gymnasium, second seeds Kien Keat-Boon Heong recovered from a sluggish start to outclass Lee Chun Hei-Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong 21-17, 21-7 to book a ticket to the last eight action.
They will take on South Koreans Kim Sa-rang-Kim Ki-jung - a pair that they had never beaten before over the last two years.
The duo have lost to these younger Korean pair at the Malaysian and Japan Opens in 2012 and this year, they went down tamely in the India Open.
Kien Keat said that they got off to a slow start because they took time to get used to the atmopshere after having a three day’s rest. They had a bye in the opening round and had a free ride in the second round due to withdrawals.
“I lost control as I could not adjust to the strong win and played hastily. In the second game though, Boon Heong and I regained our touches,” said Kien Keat.
“It will be much tougher next. We have not beaten the Korean pair before but we have prepared and I am not worried.
Boon Heong added: No pairs can go on winning forever. There will be a day when they will lose. Kien Keat and I will be on our guard to give the Koreans a fight.
Meanwhile, there was a major upset yesterday when early favourites an top seeds Lee Yong-dae-Ko Sung-hyun of South Korea suffered a shock defeat to Taiwanese Lee Sheng-mu-Tsai Chia-hsin. They lost 14-21, 21-14, 21-19.
Sheng-mu-Chia-hsin are the same players, who defeated Kien Keat-Boon Heong in the Sudirman Cup in May, which saw Malaysia losing 2-3 to Taiwan in the Group tie.
South Korea also suffered another blow in the tournament when their top women singles shuttler Sung Ji-hyun went down 21-13, 13-21, 20-22 to Carolina Marin of Spain.
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