Koo Kien Keat

Koo Kien Keat
Koo Kien Keat
Traditional Chinese	古健傑
Simplified Chinese	古健杰
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Gǔ Jiànjié
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Gu2 Gin6 Git6
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Kó͘ Kiān-kia̍t

Koo Kien Keat
古健杰
Koo Kien Keat; 古健杰
	Koo Kien Keat
Personal information
Country	Malaysia
Born	18 September 1985 (age 39); Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb; 11.8 st)
Years active	2003–2016
Retired	November 2016
Handedness	Right
Men's doubles
Highest ranking	1 (11 October 2007)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing Malaysia
World Championships
Sudirman Cup
Thomas Cup
Commonwealth Games
Asian Games
Asian Championships
Southeast Asian Games
World Junior Championships
Asian Junior Championships
	BWF profile

Koo Kien Keat AMN (Chinese: 古健傑; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kó͘ Kiān-kia̍t; born 18 September 1985) is a Malaysian former 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.^[2]

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, Koo's coach, Rexy Mainaky, decided to paired him with the hard-hitting left-hander Tan Boon Heong.^[2] 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 Superseries tournaments and climbed to the top of world rankings. They also won their first All England Superseries title after beating Chinese pair, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in straight games.

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 Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae. 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.

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 Open 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 and 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 and Xu Chen to reach their first ever finals in World Championship. The only other Malaysian pair to reach that far before them were Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock.

At the 2011 All England Open, Koo and Tan 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 2012, they competed at the 2012 London Olympics, reaching the semi-finals losing to the eventual gold medalists, and then losing in the bronze medal match to the Koreans.^[1] 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 in Copenhagen, Denmark. 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.^[3]

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 Dutch Open and finishing as runners-up at the Thailand Open. They also made it to two Superseries 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 send two representatives for each event only if they are both in the top 8 of the world rankings in 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 re-announced his retirement from professional badminton, citing the Hong Kong Open as his last tournament.

Playing style

Koo 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.

Koo and Tan are an explosive and dynamic pair in their game style.

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Men's doubles

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

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
2006	Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Melbourne, Australia	Chan Chong Ming	Choong Tan Fook Wong Choong Hann	21–13, 21–14	Gold
2010	Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India	Tan Boon Heong	Anthony Clark Nathan Robertson	21–19, 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
2006	Aspire Hall 3, Doha, Qatar	Tan Boon Heong	Luluk Hadiyanto Alvent Yulianto	21–13, 21–14	Gold
2010	Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China	Tan Boon Heong	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	21–16, 24–26, 19–21	Silver

Asian Championships

Men's doubles

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

Southeast Asian Games

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines	Chan Chong Ming	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	13–15, 13–15	Bronze
2009	Gym Hall 1, National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos	Tan Boon Heong	Markis Kido Hendra Setiawan	17–21, 17–21	Silver

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2005	PhilSports Arena, Metro Manila, Philippines	Wong Pei Tty	Anggun Nugroho Yunita Tetty	9–15, 5–15	Bronze
2009	Gym Hall 1, National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos	Wong Pei Tty	Nova Widianto Liliyana Natsir	15–21, 15–21	Bronze

World Junior Championships

Boys' doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2002	Pretoria Showgrounds, 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 Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Ong Soon Hock	Han Sang-hoon Kim Dae-sung	15–13, 15–13	Gold

Mixed doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2002	Kuala Lumpur Badminton Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	Wong Wai See	Cao Chen Rong Lu	4–11, 6–11	Bronze

BWF Superseries

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,^[4] is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011.^[5] Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.

Men's doubles

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

BWF Superseries Finals tournament

BWF Superseries Premier tournament

BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.

Men's doubles

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

Mixed doubles

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

BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result
2002	Smiling Fish Satellite	Ong Soon Hock	Hendry Kurniawan Saputra Denny Setiawan	2–7, 5–7, 5–7	Runner-up
2003	Malaysia Satellite	Gan Teik Chai	Hong Chieng Hun Lin Woon Fui	15–7, 17–16	Winner
2004	French International	Gan Teik Chai	Joachim Fischer Nielsen Jesper Larsen	15–6, 17–15	Winner
2015	Sri Lanka International	Tan Boon Heong	Chooi Kah Ming Ow Yao Han	21–19, 21–17	Winner
2015	White Nights	Tan Boon Heong	Marcus Ellis Chris Langridge	21–10, 21–12	Winner
2015	Swiss International	Tan Boon Heong	Peter Briggs Tom Wolfenden	18–21, 21–16, 21–16	Winner

BWF International Challenge tournament

BWF International Series tournament

Honours

Honours of Malaysia

Malaysia :
- Member of the Order of the Defender of the Realm (A.M.N.) (2006)^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Kien Keat Koo". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b Sukumar, Dev (1 July 2020). "Genius in Action: Koo Kien Keat & Tan Boon Heong". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
^ Liew, Vincent (28 August 2014). "Koo Kien Keat says farewell in rubber game loss". www.badmintonplanet.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
^ "BWF Launches Super Series". Badminton Australia. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.
^ "Yonex All England Elevated To BWF Premier Super Series Event". www.ibadmintonstore.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
^ "Musa Hitam gets Tunship". Bernama. The Star. 3 June 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2018.

External links

Koo Kien Keat at BWFBadminton.com
Koo Kien Keat at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com (alternate link)
Koo Kien Keat at Badminton Association of Malaysia (archived)
Koo Kien Keat at Olympedia
Koo Kien Keat at Olympics.com
Koo Kien Keat at the Commonwealth Games Federation (archived)

[lo-1] "Kien Keat Koo". London2012.com. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

[ga-2] Sukumar, Dev (1 July 2020). "Genius in Action: Koo Kien Keat & Tan Boon Heong". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 7 July 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

[3] Liew, Vincent (28 August 2014). "Koo Kien Keat says farewell in rubber game loss". www.badmintonplanet.com. Archived from the original on 27 April 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2021.

[4] "BWF Launches Super Series". Badminton Australia. 15 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007.

[5] "Yonex All England Elevated To BWF Premier Super Series Event". www.ibadmintonstore.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 29 September 2013.

[6] "Musa Hitam gets Tunship". Bernama. The Star. 3 June 2006. Retrieved 3 August 2018.

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