Australian Open: Ko/Kim Eyeing Second Title Down Under

2015-05-21

Team VICTOR players, Korean Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na won their first and only Superseries mixed doubles title together last year right here in Sydney. (Wish Ko S.H. a Happy Birthday!) On Wednesday, the Asian Champs will come back down under for their title defense.
 
 
As the seventh seeds, however, Ko/Kim lands in a packed section of the draw where they will potentially have compatriots Yoo Yeon Seong and Chang Ye Na in the R16, and then it could be top seed Xu/Ma the following round.
 
Ko Sung Hyun, Kim Ha Na
 
 Kim Ha Na
Kim Ha Na in Sudirman Cup 2015
 
Looming in the qualifying draw is Sudirman Cup heroes Malaysian Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying. The former world no.3 duo has been building up their ranking efficiently, making the semifinals in three smaller tier events this year already and climbing up more than 200 spots to find themselves back into the top 70, after Goh’s knee surgery in 2014 that had halted the Malaysia hopes. They also just got a win last week against Ko/Kim in Dongguan.
 
Chan Peng Soon, Goh Liu Ying, 吴柳萤
Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying took a win from Ko/Kim last week.
 
Defending mens’ doubles champion and runner-up team are both also from Team VICTOR. Although Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong can only face Taiwan’s Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin in the finals, they could bump into an early challenge from Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong (Wish Tan W.K. a Happy Birthday!) in the quarterfinals, who got the better of them for a group win for Malaysia in last week’s Sudirman Cup.
 
Yoo Yeon Seong, Sudirman Cup
2014 Australian Open winner - Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong
 
Lee Sheng Mu, Tsai Chia Hsin
2014 Australian Open runner-up - Lee Sheng Mu/Tsai Chia Hsin
 
Goh V Shem, Tan Wee Kiong, VICTOR
Malaysia no.1 men's doubles team Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong
 
Goh V Shem
Goh just turned 26 yesterday, with Tan celebrating also his 26th birthday 1 day later. (Wish them HBD on VICTOR Global fanpage!)
 
Kim Gi Jung, Kim Sa Rang
Kim Gi Jung and Kim Sa Rang  made the SF here last year.
 
Wang Chi Lin, Taiwan badminton
Taiwan's up and coming Wang Chi-Lin (L) and Chen Hung Ling
 
Son Wan Ho
Son Wan Ho showed signs of revival with some promising performances in last week's Sudirman Cup.
 
Boonsak Ponsana, badminton
Thai veteran Boonsak Ponsana starts in qualifying as the second seed.
 

The Real Deal

VICTOR is inviting you to join us in tracking and examining the best results from Team VICTOR players and cheering for them along the way to the Summer Olympics.
 
Starting from Sudirman Cup in May, 2015, in a 52-week process, players will be giving all out to fight for their Olympic dream and to collect the ranking points on the BWF World Tour for the final qualification. In our #TheReaDeal on-line campaign, we’ll be taking a look at the names which are going to make a “Rio” threat as we count down to the badminton event of the world sport gala.
 
The Real Deal, Olympic Games Badminton

 
( Edit by VICTOR Badminton )