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The top Malaysian pair is no longer in the top four of the world rankings.  In fact, they never won against Korean, Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong, in any super series events.  Does Malaysia have a second tier pair to back up this declining star?

Their waning status may be seen as a reflection of a taxing year for the Malaysian badminton aside from sudden disappointing results of Chong Wei.

As few would give them much hope of emerging champions in Liuzhou, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) coaching and training committee chairman Ng Chin Chai stressed that the pair needed strong support to check the slide.

“They are no longer among the world’s top four pairs. They did not earn the right to be seeded for the Super Series Masters Finals after their ups and downs this year,” said Chin Chai.

“But I want Koo and Tan to take this as a challenge and prove that the seedings are not a true reflection of a player’s status.

“I hope they will do better than the seeded pairs.”

In yesterday’s seedings released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), four pairs are rated higher than former World No. 1 Kien Keat-Boon Heong – China’s Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, South Koreans Lee Yong-dae-Jung Jae-sung, Denmark’s Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen and another Korean pair, Ko Sung-hyun-Yoo Yeon-seong.

The four seeded pairs will be divided into two groups. A draw on Dec 13 will determine Kien Keat-Boon Heong’s placing in the group.

As only the top two pairs will advance to the semi-finals, Kien Keat-Boon Heong will have to upstage at least one top combination to reach the top-four elimination round.

“We are giving Koo and Tan much support. They need it – especially now when they are trying to get back to the top.

“They must also play their part and be honest about their efforts to turn their game around.”

Despite the many challenges, Chin Chai said they were positive about rebuilding the pair’s confidence as they target a medal at next year’s London Olympics. Kien Keat-Boon Heong, however, did show some spunk despite losing for the sixth time to Sung-hyun-Yeon-seong in the China Open quarter-finals last week.

With all the doubles coaches – Tan Kim Her, Pang Cheh Chang and Yoo Yong-sung – working together, it won’t be too long before Kien Keat-Boon Heong end their long wait for a major title.

Their last major success was the 2010 Malaysian Open crown, though they deserve credit for reaching the finals of the World Championships (2010 in Paris), Asian Games in Guangzhou (2010) and the All-England (2011).

In the men’s singles, World No. 1 and top seed Lee Chong Wei’s bid to win the crown for the fourth time will be seriously challenged by two seeded players – Lin Dan and Chen Long of China.

The 29-year-old Chong Wei has lost twice to both Chen Long and Lin Dan in the last three months but if the Malaysian puts his mind to it, he may reconfirm his status as the king of the Super Series.

Malaysian national men's doubles chief coach Tan Kim Her wants Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong to keep faith in their attacking game in order to re-establish themselves among the world's top four pairs.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong have been set a target of reaching the semi-finals in the Denmark Open, which begins in Odense on Tuesday, and this means they must beat South Korea's Cho Gun Woo-Kwon Yi Goo, Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata of Japan and Denmark's Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen.

They are likely to meet World No 1 pair Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China in the last four.

The Malaysians lost to them at the same stage of the Japan Open last month.

Kim Her said Kien Keat-Boon Heong's coach Pang Cheh Chang has been given specific instructions and the pair have been working hard in training.

The biggest impact is the positive attitude of Kien Keat, who has been going that extra mile to iron out his weaknesses.

"Their main objective is to return to the world's top four and maintain the position as it is crucial to become one of the seeds for the London Olmpics. Only four pairs are seeded in the major event this time," Kim Her confirmed.

"We have set a semi-final target for them in the Denmark Open and there are some tough matches they must overcome.

"Relying on their attacking game is a way forward although Kien Keat-Boon Heong's defence is good.

However, it is very hard to win these days if they put too much emphasis on defence. They need to be aggressive and I have asked Cheh Chang to focus more on this.

"Kien Keat has had 30-minute individual sessions before training starts daily at 9.0am to rectify his weaknesses.

"They must return to the top four and must remain there to enhance their chances of winning a medal in London and every tournament is going to be important for them."

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, currently ranked World No 5, have a slightly easier draw in the French Open on Oct 25-30 where they will meet Ivan Sozonov-Vladimir Ivanov in the first round, and are likely to play Mads Condrad Petersen-Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark in the second, before an expected confrontation with Boe-Mogensen in the last eight.

If they survive, they will play South Korean dangermen Jung Jae Sung-Lee Yong Dae in the last four.

It will boost their ranking if they can reach the French Open semis as well but Kim Her and Cheh Chang will be happier if they can witness an aggressive performance from Kien Keat-Boon Heong.

Badminton is frequently compared to tennis. The following is a list of uncontentious comparisons:

• In tennis, the ball may bounce once before the player hits it; in badminton, the rally ends once the shuttlecock touches the floor.
• In tennis, the serve is dominant to the extent that the server is expected to win most of his service games (at advanced level & onwards); a break of service, where the server loses the game, is of major importance in a match. In badminton a server has far less advantage, and is unlikely to score an 'ace' (nonreturnable serve).
• In tennis, the server is allowed two attempts to make a correct serve; in badminton, the server is allowed only one attempt.
• In tennis, a let is played on service if the ball hits the net tape; in badminton, there is no let on service.
• The tennis court is larger than the badminton court.
• Tennis rackets are about four times as heavy as badminton rackets, 10-12 ounces (approximately 284-340 grams) versus 2-3 ounces (70-105 grams). Tennis balls are more than eleven times heavier than shuttlecocks, 57 grams versus 5 grams.
• The fastest recorded tennis stroke is Andy Roddick's 153 mph (246 km/h) serve, whereas the fastest badminton stroke was Tan Boon Heong 's 261.6 mph (421 km/h) recorded smash.

Comparisons of speed and athletic requirements

Statistics such as the smash speed, above, prompt badminton enthusiasts to make other comparisons that are more contentious. For example, it is often claimed that badminton is the fastest racket sport.  Although badminton holds the record for the fastest initial speed of a racket sports projectile, the shuttlecock decelerates substantially faster than other projectiles such as tennis balls. In turn, this qualification must be qualified by consideration of the distance over which the shuttlecock travels: a smashed shuttlecock travels a shorter distance than a tennis ball during a serve. Badminton's claim as the fastest racket sport might also be based on reaction time requirements, but arguably table tennis requires even faster reaction times.

While fans of badminton and tennis often claim that their sport is the more physically demanding, such comparisons are difficult to make objectively because of the differing demands of the games. No formal study currently exists evaluating the physical condition of the players or demands during game play.

Comparisons of technique

Badminton and tennis techniques differ substantially. The lightness of the shuttlecock and of badminton rackets allow badminton players to make use of the wrist and fingers much more than tennis players; in tennis the wrist is normally held stable, and playing with a mobile wrist may lead to injury. For the same reasons, badminton players can generate power from a short racket swing: for some strokes such as net kills, an elite player's swing may be less than 5 cm (2 in). For strokes that require more power, a longer swing will typically be used, but the badminton racket swing will rarely be as long as a typical tennis swing.

It is often asserted that power in badminton strokes comes mainly from the wrist. This is a misconception and may be criticized for two reasons. First, it is strictly speaking a category error: the wrist is a joint, not a muscle; the forearm muscles control its movement. Second, wrist movements are weak when compared to forearm or upper arm movements. Badminton bio-mechanics have not been the subject of extensive scientific study, but some studies confirm the minor role of the wrist in power generation, and indicate that the major contributions to power come from internal and external rotations of the upper and lower arm. Modern coaching resources such as the Badminton England Technique DVD reflect these ideas by emphasizing forearm rotation rather than wrist movements.

Distinctive characteristics of the shuttlecock

The shuttlecock differs greatly from the balls used in most other racket sports.

Aerodynamic drag and stability

The feathers impart substantial drag, causing the shuttlecock to decelerate greatly over distance. The shuttlecock is also extremely aerodynamically stable: regardless of initial orientation, it will turn to fly cork-first, and remain in the cork-first orientation.

One consequence of the shuttlecock's drag is that it requires considerable skill to hit it the full length of the court, which is not the case for most racquet sports. The drag also influences the flight path of a lifted (lobbed) shuttlecock: the parabola of its flight is heavily skewed so that it falls at a steeper angle than it rises. With very high serves, the shuttlecock may even fall vertically.

Spin

Balls may be spun to alter their bounce (for example, topspin and backspin in tennis), and players may slice the ball (strike it with an angled racket face) to produce such spin; but, since the shuttlecock is not allowed to bounce, this does not apply to badminton.

Slicing the shuttlecock so that it spins, however, does have applications, and some are particular to badminton.

• Slicing the shuttlecock from the side may cause it to travel in a different direction from the direction suggested by the player's racket or body movement. This is used to deceive opponents.
• Slicing the shuttlecock from the side may cause it to follow a slightly curved path (as seen from above), and the deceleration imparted by the spin causes sliced strokes to slow down more suddenly towards the end of their flight path. This can be used to create drop shots and smashes that dip more steeply after they pass the net.
• When playing a net-shot, slicing underneath the shuttlecock may cause it to turn over itself (tumble) several times as it passes the net. This is called a spinning net-shot or tumbling net-shot. The opponent will be unwilling to address the shuttlecock until it has corrected its orientation.

Due to the way that its feathers overlap, a shuttlecock also has a slight natural spin about its axis of rotational symmetry. The spin is in a counter-clockwise direction as seen from above when dropping a shuttlecock. This natural spin affects certain strokes: a tumbling net-shot is more effective if the slicing action is from right to left, rather than from left to right.

Article was quoted from Wiki