"Prima donna" badminton stars facing axe

Malaysia's badminton coach has warned he may axe All-England doubles champions Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong from the Indonesian Open because success has gone to their heads.

Rexy Mainaky said he may exclude the duo from the Indonesian tournament in mid-May as well as other punishments, such as taking away their mobile phones, after a dismal performance in the Asian Badminton Championships.

The pair lost in the final last week after struggling through a semi-final match.

Rexy singled out Koo for his prima donna behaviour after the pair's "worst performance" of the tournament.

"If I don't take any action, it means I condone his actions and Kien Keat may repeat this," the New Straits Times quoted him as saying.

"I cannot accept my players being arrogant and Kien Keat must realise that he has a massive responsibility on his shoulders," he said.

"This is the pair we are grooming to win the World Championships and the Olympic gold in Beijing" in 2008.

Rexy said he feared Koo and Tan had become big-headed after their wins in the All-England Open, as well as the Asian Games, the Malaysian Open and the Swiss Open.

"People are looking up to them because of their successes on the international arena and the attention and praises are getting to them," Rexy said in the Star daily.

"If I have to impose any restrictions, it is for their own good," he added.

Koo & Tan political campaigning rebuked

WHEN, en route to a Asian-level tournament, athletes stop over to lend support to a political campaign, then we know for sure that we are aiding and abetting big-headedness.

This is what happened to rising men’s doubles Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong prior to last week’s Asian Badminton Championships in Johor Baru, as they, along with a couple of officials, dropped by Machap which was preparing for a by-election.

While it is understandable that everybody wants a piece of the pair, we have to remember that they have to be nurtured carefully for, as harsh as it may sound, they haven’t won anything yet.
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Yes, the Asian Games gold in Doha ended a long wait while winning three out of five tournaments they have played in this year is a great achievement but these are tournaments which other Malaysians shuttlers have won before, and on countless occasions at that.

What we want to see Kien Keat-Boon Heong winning are the World Championships and Olympics, which Malaysians have never won before.
While doubles coach Rexy Mainaky didn’t mince words in his rebuke of Kien Keat for his showboating antics in Johor Baru, he also made a plea that the invitations for the pair to grace one function after another, should stop.

Rexy was a winner as a player and he should know what he is talking about.

It is a fact that Malaysians are quite easily satisfied when it comes to the sporting arena hence the adulation that Kien Keat-Boon Heong have been enjoying since returning from the Swiss Open.

But, as Rexy said, the road to the World Championships and Olympics is one steeped in challenges and the pair have to remain level-headed if they want to emulate what their coach did, win both.

What Rexy needs is for the pair to improve further their strength and he also knows that the world’s other top pairs would have been doing their homework to stop Kien Keat-Boon Heong from ruling men’s doubles.

It is lucky for the pair that defeat came in the Asian Championships, a low-key tournament lacking the rest of Asia’s top pairs and they don’t have to look very far to find out how easy it is to get into a rut.

Also, the BA of Malaysia deserves a rap on the knuckles for allowing Kien Keat-Boon Heong to get involved in too many extra-curricular activities.

As a responsible association, BAM has a duty to protect its players especially as it knows that Malaysia will head into the Beijing Olympics with badminton as the only realistic medal hope.

BAM has no reason to bow to pressure and the players should only be allowed to attend functions which don’t affect their training and not make them swollen-headed.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong are a rare find and they must be nurtured to excel at higher stages, not allowed to be easily satisfied.

Koo: Worst performance of career

ALL ENGLAND champions Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong dished out a sloppy performance yesterday against Taiwan’s Tsai Chia Hsin-Hu Chung Hsien before managing a 18-21, 21-16, 21-10 win to make the men’s doubles final of the Asian Championships at Johor Baru City Stadium.

For the Malaysians, the 44-minute struggle was a rude awakening and their worst performance since winning the gold in the Asian Games last December.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong flirted with defeat until the Taiwanese started committing errors in the second game to spare them the embarrassment.

Kien Keat’s over confidence almost ruined the day for the Malaysian fans as the 22-year-old lost his focus and committed many unforced errors.
Kien Keat, usually reliable in crucial stages, chose the wrong moment to play to the crowd and this led to Chia Hsin-Chung Hsien capitalising on the situation. Boon Heong tried his best to unravel things, but Kien Keat’s erratic game led to the Malaysians looking vulnerable.

But Boon Heong managed to take control in the third game and this turned the tide their way.

An apologetic Kien Keat said: "This can be considered the worst performance of my career. I just lost focus.

"Maybe I was over confident. It’s a good experience for us. I was never under this kind of pressure situation before.

"I promise this will not happen again. My movement on court was so slow and I don’t understand what happened.

"Our target is to make sure that we don’t lose to a foreign pair. Now we have made it to the final. We are playing our teammates and anything can happen."

Boon Heong said: "I didn’t play well and probably my lack of warm-up led to it. We need to get our act right as Tan Fook-Wan Wah will not be easy to play."

An upset national doubles coach Rexy Mainaky took Kien Keat to task and told him to behave more professionally and respect the opponents.

"I’m unhappy with Kien Keat's performance and I’ve told him to forget about (winning) the World Championships or the Beijing Olympics if this is his attitude," said Rexy.

"Koo was over confident and it happened at the wrong time. We won the second game because the opponents made mistakes or else Kien Keat-Boon Heong would have packed their bags and headed home.

"Koo needs to be more professional and he must not look down on his opponents just because he has won big tournaments.

"Their training has also been disrupted by plenty of functions. I plead to everyone involved to spare the boys from these activities. Let's work together so that they can be focused on their Olympic target."

Tan Fook-Wan Wah, who had said that Kien Keat-Boon Heong are favourites, must be fancying their chances in the final after witnessing their struggle yesterday.

Star interview

Check out their interview with The Star below:

http://rage.com.my/media/media.aspx?mediatype=1&id=193

Question: What's your most important thing you bring along when traveling, apart from your badminton racquets?
Koo Kien Kiet: My credit card. Yes, I am a shopperholic! - depends on which country I'm going.
Tan Boon Heong: Baju, Seluar, Laptop.