Tan Boon Heong


Tan Boon Heong is a former World No.1 Malaysian male professional badminton player in the men's doubles event.

Badminton career

2004-2006

He was previously paired with Hoon Thien How, with whom he won the World Junior Championships in 2004 and a silver medal at the 2006 Asian Badminton Championships.

2006

Nearing the Doha XV Asian Games in 2006, Rexy Mainaky decided to split them up and partner Tan Boon Heong with Koo Kien Keat instead. This move, nevertheless, proved to be spot-on as this pair went on to become the Asian Games champion, winning the gold medal in their maiden outing by defeating the then Chinese world champions, Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng, in the quarterfinals, Indonesia's Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in the semifinals, and finally Luluk Hadiyanto-Alvent Yulianto Chandra, also from Indonesia, in the finals. They are the youngest men double to win gold medal at Asian Games at the age of 21 and 19 respectively.

2007

2007 was the best year for Koo and Tan. They became the first qualifiers to win the Super Series at the Malaysian Open. They also became the World No.1 that year. They won their first All England Super Series after beating Chinese pair, Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in straight games.

2008

They competed at the 2008 Olympics, reaching the quarter-finals.

2009

At the 2009 Japan Super Series, Boon Heong set the world record for badminton smashes at 421 km/h. This was done under lab conditions and recorded by Yonex representatives, and not in an official match. Later, two won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships

2010

At the 2010 BWF World Championships, Boon Heong and partner Koo Kien Keat launched themselves into the semifinals after beating Korean rivals Lee Yong Dae and Jung Jae Sung. In the semifinals they defeated China's Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen 21-14, 21-18. Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat wrote their names in the record books, being the first Malaysian pair to enter a World Championships Final in 13 years. In the finals they played China's Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng and lost 21-18, 18-21, 14-21. The year 2010 was the last time Koo and Tan ranked World No.1.

2011

At the 2011 All England Super Series Premier, Boon Heong and Kien Keat 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 Danes and world no.1 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-15, 18-21, 18-21. In doing so, they failed to win their 2nd All England title.

2012

They competed at the 2012 Olympics, reaching the semi-finals, and losing 2 - 0 in the bronze medal match.Koo Kien Keat#cite note-3|Koo Kien Keat#cite note-4|

2013

They suffered a lot of early round exits in 2013 and a three-year major title drought but they managed to remain in the top 5 of the world ranking.

2014

As of March 2014 following the resignation of his partner, Koo Kien Keat, which was due to their deteriorating performance, Tan was scratch partnered with several men's doubles players including Goh V Shem, Ow Yao Han, Hoon Thien How and Tan Wee Keong. Following the tournament, Tan has been officially repartnered with Hoon Thien How. In August that year, Koo returned to play his last tournament with Tan at the 2014 BWF World Championships. Their 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.

2015

In early 2015, Tan announced his resignation from the Badminton Association of Malaysia. Koo and Tan announced that they are coming out of retirement and try to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics before they call it quits for good. They are currently sponsored by They have achieved some breakthroughs this year. Winning the Russian Open, Yonex Dutch Open and finishing runners up in the Thailand Open. They have also made it to 2 Super Series quarterfinals in Australia and Korea.

2016

Tan and Koo had a string of good runs to finish in 11th place in the 2016 race to Rio Olympics standings. However they did not manage to qualify because they were ranked behind fellow Malaysians Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong.

2017

Tan and Hendra Setiawan debut tournament at Syed Modi International 2017 tournament, they managed to advance until the quarter-finals. They reached the final round at the Australian Open but were beaten by 3rd seed Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda from Japan

2018

He was partner with Yoo Yeon Seong from South Korea. Subsequently, he was partner with Kim Sa Rang and they play together in men's doubles in Purple League 18/19.

2019

Tan was also currently training with Goh V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong, Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon after their resignation from Badminton Association of Malaysia.

Achievements

BWF World Championships

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2010Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Paris, France Koo Kien Keat Cai Yun
Fu Haifeng		21–18, 18–21, 14–21 Silver
2009Gachibowli Indoor Stadium, Hyderabad, India Koo Kien Keat Jung Jae-sung
Lee Yong-dae		21–16, 14–21, 20–22 Bronze

Commonwealth Games

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2010Siri Fort Sports Complex, New Delhi, India Koo Kien Keat Anthony Clark
Nathan Robertson		21–19, 21–14 Gold

Asian Games

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2010Tianhe Gymnasium, Guangzhou, China Koo Kien Keat Markis Kido
Hendra Setiawan		21–16, 24–26, 19–21 Silver
2006Aspire Hall 3, Doha, Qatar Koo Kien Keat Luluk Hadiyanto
Alvent Yulianto		21–13, 21–14 Gold

Asian Championships

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2008Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Koo Kien Keat Jung Jae-sung
Lee Yong-dae		21–16, 16–21, 18–21 Bronze
2007Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Koo Kien Keat Choong Tan Fook
Lee Wan Wah		14–21, 21–11, 12–21 Silver
2006Bandaraya Stadium, Johor Bahru, Malaysia Hoon Thien How Choong Tan Fook
Lee Wan Wah		21–17, 11–21, 12–21 Silver

Southeast Asian Games

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2009National Sports Complex, Vientiane, Laos Koo Kien Keat Markis Kido
Hendra Setiawan		17–21, 17–21 Silver

World Junior Championships

Boys' doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2004Minoru Arena, Richmond, Canada Hoon Thien How Lee Yong-dae
Jung Jung-young		15–6, 3–15, 15–12 Gold

BWF Superseries (8 titles, 10 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. BWF Superseries has two levels: Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.
Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2017Australian Open Hendra Setiawan Takeshi Kamura
Keigo Sonoda		17–21, 19–21 Runner-up
2013French Open Koo Kien Keat Marcus Fernaldi Gideon
Markis Kido		16–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2012Hong Kong Open Koo Kien Keat Cai Yun
Fu Haifeng		16–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2012Denmark Open Koo Kien Keat Shin Baek-choel
Yoo Yeon-seong		21–19, 11–21, 19–21 Runner-up
2012Japan Open Koo Kien Keat Kim Gi-jung
Kim Sa-rang		16–21, 19–21 Runner-up
2011All England Open Koo Kien Keat Mathias Boe
Carsten Mogensen		21–15, 18–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2010Japan Open Koo Kien Keat Cai Yun
Fu Haifeng		21–18, 14–21, 12–21 Runner-up
2010Swiss Open Koo Kien Keat Ko Sung-hyun
Yoo Yeon-seong		18–21, 16–21 Runner-up
2010Malaysia Open Koo Kien Keat Guo Zhendong
Xu Chen		21–15, 17–21, 21–16 Winner
2009China Open Koo Kien Keat Jung Jae-sung
Lee Yong-dae		13–21, 21–19, 18–21 Runner-up
2009French Open Koo Kien Keat Markis Kido
Hendra Setiawan		21–15, 15–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2009Denmark Open Koo Kien Keat Mathias Boe
Carsten Mogensen		20–22, 21–14, 21–17 Winner
2009Swiss Open Koo Kien Keat Mathias Boe
Carsten Mogensen		21–14, 21–18 Winner
2008Super Series Masters Finals Koo Kien Keat Jung Jae-sung
Lee Yong-dae		21–18, 21–14 Winner
2007Denmark Open Koo Kien Keat Jens Eriksen
Martin Lundgaard Hansen		14–21, 21–14, 21–12 Winner
2007Swiss Open Koo Kien Keat Jens Eriksen
Martin Lundgaard Hansen		17–21, 21–16, 21–12 Winner
2007All England Open Koo Kien Keat Cai Yun
Fu Haifeng		21–15, 21–18 Winner
2007Malaysia Open Koo Kien Keat Tony Gunawan
Candra Wijaya		21–15, 21–18 Winner

BWF Grand Prix (8 titles, 5 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation since 1983.
Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Vietnam Open Koo Kien Keat Lee Jhe-huei
Lee Yang		21–18, 14–21, 7–21 Runner-up
2016Malaysia Masters Koo Kien Keat Markus Fernaldi Gideon
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo		21–18, 13–21, 18–21 Runner-up
2015Dutch Open Koo Kien Keat Manu Attri
B. Sumeeth Reddy		21–15, 21–10 Winner
2015Thailand Open Koo Kien Keat Wahyu Nayaka
Ade Yusuf		22–20, 21–23, 16–21 Runner-up
2013Malaysia Masters Koo Kien Keat Goh V Shem
Lim Khim Wah		20–22, 15–21 Runner-up
2012Malaysia Masters Koo Kien Keat Chooi Kah Ming
Ow Yao Han		21–15, 21–19 Winner
2011Malaysia Masters Koo Kien Keat Alvent Yulianto Chandra
Hendra Aprida Gunawan		21–16, 21–7 Winner
2009Macau Open Koo Kien Keat Choong Tan Fook
Lee Wan Wah		21–14, 17–21, 21–12 Winner
2009Malaysia Masters Koo Kien Keat Gan Teik Chai
Tan Bin Shen		21–11, 21–13 Winner
2008Macau Open Koo Kien Keat Fang Chieh-min
Lee Sheng-mu		21–16, 21–18 Winner
2007Macau Open Koo Kien Keat Choong Tan Fook
Lee Wan Wah		21–18, 17–21, 23–21 Winner
2007Philippines Open Koo Kien Keat Guo Zhendong
Xie Zhongbo		21–8, 26–24 Winner
2006Japan Open Koo Kien Keat Tony Gunawan
Candra Wijaya		15–21, 14–21 Runner-up

BWF International Challenge/Series (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2019Dubai International Shia Chun Kang Keiichiro Matsui
Yoshinori Takeuchi		14–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2019South Australia International Shia Chun Kang Kim Duk-young
Kim Sa-rang		14–21, 21–17, 16–21 Runner-up
2019Perth International Shia Chun Kang Lee Chia-hao
Liu Wei-chi		21–17, 21–16 Winner
2015Swiss International Koo Kien Keat Peter Briggs
Tom Wolfenden		18–21, 21–16, 21–16 Winner
2015White Nights Koo Kien Keat Marcus Ellis
Chris Langridge		21–10, 21–12 Winner
2015Sri Lanka International Koo Kien Keat Chooi Kah Ming
Ow Yao Han		21–19, 21–17 Winner

Record against selected opponents

Men's Doubles results with Koo Kien Keat against Super Series finalists, Worlds Semi-finalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists, plus all Olympic opponents.