All England champions Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong captured the Macau Open men’s doubles title in sensational style after beating compatriots Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah 21-18, 17-21, 23-21 in a three-set thriller.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong, who faced three match points in the third and deciding game against their in-form opponents, kept their cool and eventually outfoxed the more experienced duo with some brilliant defensive play that kept the thrilled Macau fans on edge.

In fact, Tan Fook-Wan Wah can only blame themselves for the defeat as they failed to take advantage of the situation especially on Kien Keat who suffered a knee injury while trying to retrieve a shot midway in the third set, according to the Macau Open Championship website.

Tan Fook-Wan Wah, who had beaten former world number one pair and top seeds Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun of China in the semi-finals yesterday, had by then fought back from a set down to level the score and force the match into a tie-breaker.

They were leading 7-4, when Kien Keat suffered the injury after he dived full length to retrieve a shot and bruised his knee in the process, forcing the doctor to come on court and treat him.

However, credit must go to Kien Keat who showed no signs of being affected by the injury and was instrumental in guiding his partner to their fifth title of the year, after having bagged the Malaysian Open, All England, Swiss Open and China Masters.

En route to the final, Kien Keat-Boon Heong had disposed of current world champions and world number one Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia in straight sets of 21-18, 21-11.

The win was also some consolation for the duo who had come under heavy criticism for their poor run in recent months, including the World Championships where they lost in the quarterfinals.

Meanwhile, Chen Jin of China defeated 2004 Athens Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia 19-21, 21-17, 21-18 in a tough battle that went all the way to rubber games and lift the men’s singles title.

Taufik, despite taking the first game with some exquisite touches and net play, made numerous unforced errors in the next two games to allow the Chinese player to claw back into the match and subsequently clinch the title.

Incidentally, it was Chen Jin who had dashed Malaysia’s hopes in the men’s singles when he stopped Wong Choong Hann’s superb run in the tournament.

The women’s singles final was a tame affair when world number one Xie Xingfang swept aside South Korean Jun Jae-youn 21-10, 21-10 in double quick time to take the title.

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