PETALING JAYA: Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong rejoiced in their reclaiming of the top spot in the men’s doubles world rankings by sweeping aside Danes Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen to reach the French Open men’s doubles final in Paris yesterday.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong sent the third seeds from Denmark packing 21-18, 21-19 in 36 minutes to remain on course for a back-to-back win in Europe.
It was the second time in two weeks Kien Keat-Boon Heong got the better of the Danish pairing.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong climbed to the top spot for the first time in almost two years ahead of South Korea’s Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung in the latest world rankings following their triumph in the Denmark Open last week.
The second seeded Malaysian pair will take on defending champions Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in a mouth-watering final encounter today.
Markis-Hendra overcame China’s Sun Junjie-Tao Jiaming 21-19, 21-17 in the other semi-final match earlier.
Kien Keat-Boon Heong chalked up a 21-12, 21-19 win over England’s Anthony Clark-Nathan Robertson while Markis-Hendra snuffed out the challenge of Malaysia’s Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif 21-11, 21-17 in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Doubles head coach Rexy Mainaky is glad to see Kien Keat-Boon Heong back at the top again and hope to see them nail a second title in Paris.
“I hope they make their position stronger.
“They deserve it after going through several disappointments and I hope they are more mature to handle their current status,” he said,
Olympic and world champion Lin Dan looks set to bag his first French Open title after reaching the final with a 21-19, 23-21 win over fellow Chinese Chen Jin.
Lin Dan will meet former Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia, who stopped defending champion Peter-Gade Christensen 22-20, 21-14 in the other semi-finals.
