Kuala Lumpur: Former world No. 1 men’s doubles pair Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong has officially announcing their comeback in badminton at a singing ceremony with Seri Mutiara Development Sdn Bhd on Monday.
Both Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong signed a sponsorship deal with Seri Mutiara Development Sdn Bhd that worth RM 2 million over a two-year period. The deal will cover the pair’s local and oversea competition expenses, as well as their training and coaching costs. Two former Malaysian men’s doubles players Lee Wan Wah and Chew Choon Eng will become their new coaches.
With everything settled down, Koo and Tan are now focused on securing a spot for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“Climbing up the ranks of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) is an uphill battle. We need to be at world top 10 by end of this year in order to have a fair chance to qualify for Olympics,” said Tan.
When Koo Kien Keat was asked about how he got back together with Tan Boon Heong, he said it was because they both would like to play in the Olympics.
“During my tenure as a coach in Thailand, I realized I still love the game, and that’s why I am making a comeback,” said Koo.
“With the sponsorship deal finalized, we need to start practiced hard to get back in shape. We hope Wan Wah and Choon Eng could help us achieve that,” added Koo.
The pair has registered for the Australian Open Superseries that will be held from May 26 to 31 but probably will not able to make it due to their current low ranking of No. 215. They will probably try to work their way up by playing in other lower tier tournaments first, before playing in other bigger tournaments such as Superseries, All England, or World Championships.
Meanwhile, technical director of Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Morten Frost Hansen also acknowledging Koo/Tan have what it takes to be World No. 1.
“They are both highly skilled, and it really depends on their hunger to be better and successful,” said Frost.
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