Koo and Tan absent from Korea?

LJ asked: victor, is rexy's decision of sending koo tan to selected tourneys wise? wouldn't that allow kido setiawan and cai-fu to take over their world no.1 ranking?

Doubles head coach Rexy Mainaky has decided not to send top Men's Doubles shuttlers Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong to all selected tournaments. In fact, Rexy has decided not to send Koo and Tan to the Korea Open Super Series event, taking place next week after the Malaysian Open. While many have questioned Rexy's decision, I personally agree with Rexy. Why? Read on an find out!

1. Keeping Koo and Tan well rested
A reason for Koo and Tan's lackluster performance in last year's World Championships was fatigue and tiredness setting in. Furthermore, Koo and Tan have shown that they easily succumb to fatigue, when they failed to live up to their number 1 ranking in the last 2 Super Series events, the China Open and Hong Kong Open. Koo admitted that it was because of the fatigue of an extremely busy 2007. Rexy would not want that to happen this year, with the Thomas Cup and the Olympic Games peeking around the corner, and with his career on the line (Rexy said that he would resign if none of his charges won Gold Medals in this year's Olympics), he would want his charges to be properly rested.

2. Keeping Koo and Tan's weapons 'secret'
2008 is going to be an important year for Koo and Tan, and the lesser their opponents know about their game, the better it is for Koo and Tan. Winning a few Opens is not as important as winning something big, such as the World Championships and Olympics. Now that Koo and Tan are at number 1, they can pick and choose tournaments.

3. So what if Koo and Tan loose the World Number 1 spot?
There is little for Koo and Tan to lose if they lose the World Number 1 spot. Seedings occurs players ranked 1-8, and it doesn't make much difference for someone to be seeded 1st or 8th. In addition to this, Koo and Tan don't seem to play well under pressure. Koo and Tan failed to gain favorable results from the last 3 Super Series events, where they were seeded 1st. Although Malaysia's ego might be bruised, if Koo and Tan lost the number 1 spot in the rankings, Malaysia don't have much to lose. Rexy must be wanting to emulate the Korean Men's Doubles players, who hid and became underdogs and won the big events such as the Olympics.

Therefore, Rexy's decision not to send Koo and Tan to all tournaments is indeed a wise one.