Koo Kien Keat

Koo Kien Keat
Koo Kien Keat
Personal information
Country	Malaysia
Born	(1985-09-18) 18 September 1985 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Weight	75 kg (165 lb; 11.8 st)
Years active	2003 - present
Handedness	Right
Coach	Lee Wan Wah
Men's doubles
Highest ranking	1 (11 October 2007)
Current ranking	13 (3 November 2016)
Medal record Men's badminton Representing  Malaysia World Championships 2010 Paris Men's doubles 2005 Anaheim Men's doubles 2006 Madrid Mixed doubles 2009 Hyderabad Men's doubles Sudirman Cup 2009 Guangzhou Mixed team Thomas Cup 2016 Kunshan Men's team 2010 Kuala Lumpur Men's team 2008 Jakarta Men's team 2006 Sendai/Tokyo Men's team Commonwealth Games 2006 Melbourne Men's doubles 2006 Melbourne Mixed team 2010 Delhi Men's doubles 2010 Delhi Mixed doubles 2010 Delhi Mixed team Asian Games 2006 Doha Men's doubles 2010 Guangzhou Men's doubles 2006 Doha Men's team Asian Championships 2007 Johor Bahru Men's doubles 2008 Johor Bahru Men's doubles Southeast Asian Games 2005 Manila Men's team 2009 Vientiane Men's doubles 2009 Vientiane Men's team 2005 Manila Men's doubles 2005 Manila Mixed doubles 2009 Vientiane Mixed doubles World Junior Championships 2002 Pretoria Boys' doubles Asian Junior Championships 2002 Kuala Lumpur Boys' doubles 2002 Kuala Lumpur Boys' team
BWF profile

Koo Kien Keat
Traditional Chinese	古健傑
Simplified Chinese	古健杰
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gǔ Jiànjié Southern Min Hokkien POJ Kóo Kiān-kia̍t

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

In 2004, he played in the 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.

In 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 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.

In 2008, he and Tan competed at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals and in 2009, the two won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships. 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. 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.

In 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] In 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. In 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.

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. In 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. He married Audrey Tan Su Ven in 2013, and has a son, Dayson, who was born in 2014.

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 Rasmussen.

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 Zhendong & 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

BWF World Championships

Men's Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, France	Tan Boon Heong	Cai Yun Fu Haifeng	21–18, 18–21, 14–21	Silver
2009	Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India	Tan Boon Heong	Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae	21–16, 14–21, 20–22	Bronze
2005	Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, United States	Chan Chong Ming	Candra Wijaya Sigit Budiarto	9–15, 11–15	Bronze

Mixed Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2006	Palacio de Deportes de la Comunidad, Madrid, Spain	Wong Pei Tty	Anthony Clark Donna Kellogg	14–21, 12–21	Bronze

Commonwealth Games

Men's Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India	Tan Boon Heong	Anthony Clark Nathan Robertson	21–19, 21–14	Gold
2006	Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia	Chan Chong Ming	Choong Tan Fook Wong Choong Hann	21–13, 21–14	Gold

Mixed Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India	Chin Eei Hui	Nathan Robertson Jenny Wallwork	22–20, 21–12	Gold

Asian Games

Men's Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2010	Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China	Tan Boon Heong	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	21–16, 24–26, 19–21	Silver
2006	Aspire Hall 3, Doha, Qatar	Tan Boon Heong	Luluk Hadiyanto Alvent Yulianto	21–13, 21–14	Gold

Asian Championships

Men's Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2008	Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia	Tan Boon Heong	Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae	21–16, 16–21, 18–21	Bronze
2007	Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia	Tan Boon Heong	Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah	14–21, 21–11, 12–21	Silver

Southeast Asian Games

Men's Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2009	National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos	Tan Boon Heong	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	17–21, 17–21	Silver
2005	PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines	Chan Chong Ming	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	13–15, 13–15	Bronze

Mixed Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2009	National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos	Wong Pei Tty	Nova Widianto Lilyana Natsir	15–21, 15–21	Bronze
2005	PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines	Wong Pei Tty	Anggun Nugroho Yunita Tetty	9–15, 5–15	Bronze

World Junior Championships

Boys' Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2002	Pretoria, South Africa	Ong Soon Hock	Han Sang-hoon Park Sung-hwan	15–7, 8–15, 4–15	Bronze

Asian Junior Championships

Boys' Doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2002	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Ong Soon Hock	Han Sang-hoon Kim Dae-sung	2–0	Gold

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.

Men's Doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2013	French Open	Tan Boon Heong	Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Markis Kido	16–21, 18–21	02 ! Runner-up
2012	Hong Kong Open	Tan Boon Heong	Cai Yun Fu Haifeng	16–21, 17–21	02 ! Runner-up
2012	Denmark Open	Tan Boon Heong	Shin Baek-choel Yoo Yeon-seong	21–19, 11–21, 19–21	02 ! Runner-up
2012	Japan Open	Tan Boon Heong	Kim Gi-jung Kim Sa-rang	16–21, 19–21	02 ! Runner-up
2011	All England Open	Tan Boon Heong	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	21–15, 18–21, 18–21	02 ! Runner-up
2010	Japan Open	Tan Boon Heong	Cai Yun Fu Haifeng	21–18, 14–21, 12–21	02 ! Runner-up
2010	Swiss Open	Tan Boon Heong	Ko Sung-hyun Yoo Yeon-seong	18–21, 16–21	02 ! Runner-up
2010	Malaysia Open	Tan Boon Heong	Guo Zhendong Xu Chen	21–15, 17–21, 21–16	01 ! Winner
2009	China Open	Tan Boon Heong	Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae	13–21, 21–19, 18–21	02 ! Runner-up
2009	French Open	Tan Boon Heong	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	21–15, 15–21, 14–21	02 ! Runner-up
2009	Denmark Open	Tan Boon Heong	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	20–22, 21–14, 21–17	01 ! Winner
2009	Swiss Open	Tan Boon Heong	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	21–14, 21–18	01 ! Winner
2008	Super Series Masters Finals	Tan Boon Heong	Jung Jae-sung Lee Yong-dae	21–18, 21–14	01 ! Winner
2007	Denmark Open	Tan Boon Heong	Jens Eriksen Martin Lundgaard Hansen	14–21, 21–14, 21–12	01 ! Winner
2007	Swiss Open	Tan Boon Heong	Jens Eriksen Martin Lundgaard Hansen	17–21, 21–16, 21–12	01 ! Winner
2007	All England Open	Tan Boon Heong	Cai Yun Fu Haifeng	21–15, 21–18	01 ! Winner
2007	Malaysia Open	Tan Boon Heong	Tony Gunawan Candra Wijaya	21–15, 21–18	01 ! Winner

     Superseries Finals Tournament

     Superseries Premier Tournament

     Superseries Tournament

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2016	Vietnam Open	Tan Boon Heong	Lee Jhe-huei Lee Yang	21–18, 14–21, 7–21	02 ! Runner-up
2016	Malaysia Masters	Tan Boon Heong	Markus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	21–18, 13–21, 18–21	02 ! Runner-up
2015	Dutch Open	Tan Boon Heong	Manu Attri B. Sumeeth Reddy	21–15, 21–10	01 ! Winner
2015	Thailand Open	Tan Boon Heong	Wahyu Nayaka Ade Yusuf	22–20, 21–23, 16–21	02 ! Runner-up
2013	Malaysia Masters	Tan Boon Heong	Goh V Shem Lim Khim Wah	20–22, 15–21	02 ! Runner-up
2012	Malaysia Masters	Tan Boon Heong	Chooi Kah Ming Ow Yao Han	21–15, 21–19	01 ! Winner
2011	Malaysia Masters	Tan Boon Heong	Alvent Yulianto Chandra Hendra Aprida Gunawan	21–16, 21–7	01 ! Winner
2009	Macau Open	Tan Boon Heong	Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah	21–14, 17–21, 21–12	01 ! Winner
2009	Malaysia Masters	Tan Boon Heong	Gan Teik Chai Tan Bin Shen	21–11, 21–13	01 ! Winner
2008	Macau Open	Tan Boon Heong	Fang Chieh-min Lee Sheng-mu	21–16, 21–18	01 ! Winner
2007	Macau Open	Tan Boon Heong	Choong Tan Fook Lee Wan Wah	21–18, 17–21, 23–21	01 ! Winner
2007	Philippines Open	Tan Boon Heong	Guo Zhendong Xie Zhongbo	21–8, 26–24	01 ! Winner
2006	Japan Open	Tan Boon Heong	Tony Gunawan Candra Wijaya	15–21, 14–21	02 ! Runner-up
2006	Malaysia Open	Chan Chong Ming	Mohd Fairuzizuan Tazari Lin Woon Fui	14–21, 21–11, 21–17	01 ! Winner
2006	Swiss Open	Chan Chong Ming	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	17–14, 8–15, 17–14	01 ! Winner
2005	Denmark Open	Chan Chong Ming	Lars Paaske Jonas Rasmussen	15–6, 15–7	01 ! Winner
2004	Chinese Taipei Open	Chan Chong Ming	Hendra Aprida Gunawan Joko Riyadi	6–15, 15–13, 15–6	01 ! Winner

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2004	Chinese Taipei Open	Wong Pei Tty	Muhammad Rizal Endang Nursugianti	15–3, 15–5	01 ! Winner
2004	Singapore Open	Wong Pei Tty	Nova Widianto Liliyana Natsir	1–15, 4–15	02 ! Runner-up

     Grand Prix Gold Tournament

     Grand Prix Tournament

     IBF World Grand Prix Tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's Doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2015	Swiss International	Tan Boon Heong	Peter Briggs Tom Wolfenden	18–21, 21–16, 21–16	01 ! Winner
2015	White Nights	Tan Boon Heong	Marcus Ellis Chris Langridge	21–10, 21–12	01 ! Winner
2015	Sri Lanka International	Tan Boon Heong	Chooi Kah Ming Ow Yao Han	21–19, 21–17	01 ! Winner
2004	French International	Gan Teik Chai	Joachim Fischer Nielsen Jesper Larsen	15–6, 17–15	01 ! Winner
2003	Malaysia Satellite	Gan Teik Chai	Hong Chieng Hun Lin Woon Fui	15–7, 17–16	01 ! Winner

     BWF International Challenge tournament

     BWF International Series tournament

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Koo Kien Keat.

• Profile at Badminton Association of Malaysia
• Koo Kien Keat at BWF.tournamentsoftware.com