Koo Kien Keat
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| Koo Kien Keat | |||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 古健傑 | ||||||||||
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| Simplified Chinese | 古健杰 | ||||||||||
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Koo Kien Keat (born 18 September 1985 in Ipoh, Perak) is a former Malaysian professional badminton player. He succeeded in both men's and mixed doubles but is best known for his partnership with Tan Boon Heong with whom, he reached a career high ranking of world number 1.
In 2013, after a series of early round exits, Koo announced his retirement to become a coach for the Granular Club of Thailand. He later came out of retirement in 2015 and reunited with Tan on a bid to qualify for their third Olympic outing. Although their comeback was considerably successful, Koo and Tan narrowly failed to qualify for Rio 2016. Koo later reannounced his retirement citing the 2016 Hong Kong Open as his last match.
Badminton career
2004-2005
He played in the 2004 Thomas Cup with Chew Choon Eng. They gave a strong performance during the second doubles match against Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian of Indonesia in the quarter finals.
However, after the tournament, the Badminton Association of Malaysia decided to partner him with Chan Chong Ming who previously partnered Choon Eng. Later, they won the bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships.
2006
He started to play with Tan Boon Heong. Together, they won the gold medal at the 2006 Doha Asian Games as an unseeded pair. En route to the finals, they defeated several top pairs including Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia.They are the youngest ever men's doubles pair to win an Asian Games gold medal at the age of 22 and 19 respectively.
2007
2007 was the best year for Koo and Tan. They won several Super Series tournaments and climbed to the top of world rankings. They also won their first All England Super Series title after beating Chinese pair, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in straight games.
2008
They competed at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals.
2009
The two won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships.
2010
At the 2010 BWF World Championships, the pair entered the semifinals after beating Korean rivals Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung. In the semifinals they defeated China's Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen 21-14, 21-18. Tan and Koo became the first Malaysian pair to enter a World Championship final in 13 years. In the finals, they played China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng but lost 21-18, 18-21, 14-21. This year was the last year Koo and Tan ranked world number 1 but managed to remain in the top 5 until 2013.
2011
At the 2011 All England Super Series Premier, Boon Heong and Kien Keat defeated 2008 Olympic champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan in the quarterfinals. They then defeated World champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng 21-11, 23-21. They lost to the Danes and then world number 1 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-15, 18-21, 18-21. In doing so, they failed to win their 2nd All England title.
2012
They competed at the 2012 Olympics, reaching the semi-finals losing to the eventual gold medalists, and then losing in the bronze medal match to the Koreans.[3][4]
2013
They suffered a series of early round exits in 2013 and a three-year major title drought but managed to remain in the top 10 of the world rankings.
2014
Koo parted with the Badminton Association of Malaysia and became a coach for the Granular Club of Thailand in early 2014. In August that year, Koo returned to play his last tournament with Tan at the 2014 BWF World Championships. Their supposedly last match together was in the third round where they lost to a Chinese Taipei pair with a score of 19-21 in the deciding game.
2015
In 2015, Koo announced that he is coming out of retirement to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics with Tan before they call it quits for good. They were sponsored by Seri Mutiara Development Sdn Bhd and playing for an independent club. They achieved several breakthroughs this year, winning the Russian Open, Dutch Open and finishing as runner ups at the Thailand Open. They also made it to two Super Series quarterfinals in Australia and Korea.
2016
Koo and Tan managed to enter the top 15 of the world rankings. However, due to the new Olympic qualification requirement set by the BWF whereby each country can only send two representatives for each event only if they are both in the top 10 world rankings of their discipline and if they are not then only the highest ranked representative will contest, Koo and Tan narrowly failed to qualify for the Olympics. By the time the qualification period had ended, the two were ranked world number 14 just one rank behind compatriots Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong who were selected instead and went on to win the silver medal. In November, Koo reannounced his retirement from professional badminton, citing the Hong Kong open as his last tournament.
Personal life
He began his studies at St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Perak. Later, he received an offer to go to Bukit Jalil Sports School, where he completed his secondary school studies and sat for the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia) examination.
Playing style
Koo Kien Keat moves very fast around the net areas and is adventurous with deceptive shots. He also reacts very well on fast flat exchanges. A favourite formation is when he is on the front court and his partner, the main smasher, attacks from the rear of the court with powerful, left-handed smashes.
Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong are an explosive and dynamic pair in their game style.
In 2010, they won their first title of the year in their home, Malaysia, as the world number 1 pair. They came in seeded number 1 in the All England but lost in the first round to Denmark former world champions Lars Paaske and Jonas Ramussen.
In the 2010 BWF World Championships they beat the young Chinese pair of Chai Biao & Zhang Nan in the quarter-finals and later their arch rivals, the South Koreans Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong Dae, in 3 sets to reach the semi-finals. After that, they beat another Chinese pair of Guo Zhen Dong & Xu Chen to reach their first ever finals in world championship. The only other Malaysian pair to reach that far before them were Yap Kim Hock and Cheah Soon Kit.
Achievements
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | |||
| 2010 Asian Games |  China | Runner Up | |
| 2010 BWF World Championships |  France | Runner Up | |
| 2009 | |||
| Macau Open Grand Prix Gold |  Macau | Winner | |
| 2009 BWF World Championships |  New Delhi | Semi-finalist | |
| Wilson Swiss Super Series |  Basel | Winner | |
| Yonex All England Super Series |  Birmingham | Quarter-finalist | |
| 2008 | |||
| Macau Open Grand Prix Gold | Macau | Winner | |
| Proton Malaysia Super Series |  Kuala Lumpur | Second Round | |
| 2007 | |||
| Hong Kong Super Series |  Wan Chai | Quarter-Finalist | |
| China Open Super Series | Guangzhou | Second Round | |
| French Super Series | Paris | Quarter-Finalists | |
| Denmark Super Series |  Odense | Winner | |
| Macau Open | Macau | Winner | |
| Japan Super Series |  Tokyo | Third Round | |
| 2007 BWF World Championships | Kuala Lumpur | Quarter-Finalists | |
| Philippines Open |  Manila | Winner | |
| Malaysian National Badminton Championships | Kuala Terengganu | Winner | |
| Indonesia Super Series |  Jakarta | Semi-Finalist | |
| 2007 Asian Badminton Championships | Johor Bahru | Runner-Up | |
| Swiss Open Super Series | Basel | Winner | |
| Yonex All England Super Series | Birmingham | Winner | |
| Yonex Korea Open Super Series |  Seoul | Semi-Finalist | |
| Proton Malaysia Super Series | Kuala Lumpur | Winner | |
| 2006 | |||
| 2006 Asian Games |  Doha | Winner | |
| Yonex Japan Open | Tokyo | Runner-Up | |
| Chinese Taipei Open |  Chinese Taipei | Semi-Finalist | |
| Proton Malaysia Open | Kuching | Winner | |
| Singapore Open |  Singapore | Quarter-Finalist | |
| 2006 Commonwealth Games |  Melbourne | Winner | |
| Swiss Open | Basel | Winner | |
| 2005 | |||
| Denmark Open | Winner | ||
| Indonesia Open | Quarter-Finalist | ||
| 2005 IBF World Championships |  Anaheim | Semi-Finalist | |
| Proton Malaysia Open | Malaysia | Quarter-Finalist | |
| Siam Cement Thailand Open |  Thailand | Quarter-Finalist | |
| 2005 Southeast Asian Games | Manila | Quarter-Finalist | |
| Yonex German Open | Semi-Finalist | ||
| 2004 | |||
| Chinese Taipei Open | Chinese Taipei | Winner | |
| Singapore Open | Singapore | Semi-Finalist | |
| China Open | Guangzhou | Quarter-Finalist | |
| French Open International | Winner | ||
| 2003 | |||
| Malaysia Satellite | Winner | ||
| 2002 | |||
| Asian Junior Championships | Winner | ||
| World Junior Championships |  Johannesburg | Semi-Finalist |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Tournament | Venue | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | |||
| Malaysian National Badminton Championships | Kuala Terengganu | Winner | |
| Yonex Korea Open Super Series | Seoul | Quarter-Finalist | |
| 2006 | |||
| 2006 Asian Games | Doha | Quarter-Finalist | |
| 2006 IBF World Championships |  Madrid | Semi-Finalist | |
| 2006 Commonwealth Games | Melbourne | Semi-Finalist | |
| 2005 | |||
| Denmark Open | Semi-Finalist | ||
| Djarum Indonesia Open | Jakarta | Quarter-Finalist | |
| Hong Kong Open | Hong Kong | Semi-Finalist | |
| 2005 Southeast Asian Games | Manila | Semi-Finalist | |
| 2004 | |||
| Djarum Indonesia Open | Jakarta | Semi-Finalist | |
| Singapore Open | Singapore | Runner-Up | |
| Chinese Taipei Open |  Taipei | Winner | |
| China Open | Guangzhou | Quarter-Finalist | |
| 2004 Asian Badminton Championships | Kuala Lumpur | Quarter-Finalist | |
| 2002 | |||
| Asian Junior Championships | Runner-Up |
References
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koo Kien Keat. |
World rankings: Top ten badminton players as of December 8, 2016 | |
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