King of smashers Boon Heong holds record
RAJES PAUL reports from ODENSE
MALAYSIAN doubles shuttler Tan Boon Heong was on a high after being hailed as the world’s hardest smasher but Mohd Hafiz Hashim was down after being dumped in the second round of the Denmark Open yesterday.
It was made official yesterday that Boon Heong now holds the fastest speed record for a smash at 421kph, which was recorded in the Japan Open in Tokyo last month.
And bouyed with the acknowledgement, the 22-year-old Boon Heong is inspired to continue taking his game to a higher level.
The two previous fastest speeds were 332kph (Fu Haifeng of China) and 414kph (Naoki Kawamae of Japan).
Boon Heong, who with Koo Kien Keat defeated Mikkel Elbjorn Larsen-Christian Skovgaard of Denmark 21-10, 19-21, 21-10 in a first-round match on Wednesday, said that it was an honour to be the record holder.
The other Malaysian pair, Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif, also made it to the second round – beating another Danish pair, Mats Bue-Rene Lindskow 21-11, 21-14.
Boon Heong-Kien Keat beat Indonesians Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki-Rian Sukmawan 16-21, 21-19, 21-19 yesterday while Fairuzizuan-Zakry were up against Denmark’s Kesper Henriksen-Anders Kristiansen for places in the quarter-finals.
They will take on the winner of the match between Mohd Ahsan-Bona Septano of Indonesia and Denmark’s Lars Paaske-Jonas Rasmussen next.
“I feel proud of this recognition. It will certainly motivate me to do even better in this sport,” said Boon Heong.
“People started to notice my smashing ability when I was 17-years-old. And aware that it is one of my strong points, I spent extra hours working on it.
“It’s all about the timing in hitting a good smash. One does not have to be physically big to be a strong exponent in the stroke.
“Having a strong smash alone is not enough. It is also important to have a good defence and to complement well with the partner. Kien Keat and I still have to work in these areas.”
While Boon Heong was elated, Hafiz trooped out of court a dejected man after he was eliminated by Germany’s Marc Zwiebler. The Laos SEA Games-bound shuttler squandered a 16-5 lead in the rubber game and lost 21-16, 17-21, 18-21 in a 59-minute match.
For the 25-year-old Zwiebler, the win was his second consecutive one over a Malaysian. He defeated veteran Wong Choong Hann 21-18, 18-21, 21-12 in the first round.
Coach Hendrawan attributed Hafiz’s defeat to a lack of stamina.
“He was tired and his legs were heavy. He was blank after taking the huge lead but the Germany player just grew in confidence,” said the Indonesian.
“It is not the results that we had expected from him. I will speak to him and get him all motivated again for the France Open next week.”
With the elimination of Hafiz, Malaysia no longer have an interest in the men’s singles competition.
Malaysia’s challenge also ended in the mixed doubles following the defeat of Kien Keat-Wong Pei Tty by Anthony Clark-Donna Kellogg of England in the opening round. They were beaten 25-23, 16-21, 11-21
source:Thestar