IS IT bad luck or just plain lack of fire in the belly?

In the case of national doubles shuttlers Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Keat, it could be a bit of both after the world No. 2 again came up short when they crashed out in the second round at the All-England.

The duo went down with a whimper to Thailand’s Maneepong Jongjit-Nipitphon Puangpuapech 21-17, 21-18 in less than 30 minutes.

The 25-year-old Boon Heong admitted that it had not been a good year. Apparently, even a Chinese medium had told him that it won’t be a great year for him.

“I was born in the year of the Rabbit and according to a Chinese medium, this is not a good year for me. I have put that aside and try to get my badminton career back in order,” said Boon Heong, who has been hit by a series of misfortunes.

An hour before his second round match against the Thais on Thursday, Boon Heong was seen dashing from the stadium to the hotel – under a drizzle in the cold and damp weather – because he had forgotten to bring his player’s accreditation pass.

At the Malaysian Open in January, he was down with fever and withdrew from the second round. Now, he is carrying a slight hamstring injury.

In fact, even Kien Keat is a bit under the weather here as he’s struggling with a sore throat and fever.

“Koo and I have gone through many ups and downs ... but we’ll stick together.

“Yes, we have not been playing as well as we did in the last few tournaments last year (after the Olympic Games) but we’ll bounce back,” said Boon Heong.

Boon Heong and Kien Keat had been given one year to prove themselves after failing to win a bronze at the London Olympics. And the World Championships in Guangzhou in August will determine their fate in the national team. Their target in the world meet is a place in the final.

Kien Keat said he wasn’t too affected by the defeat in the All-England.

“Winning and losing is part of the game. The men’s doubles is so open now that we don’t see any one dominant pair. For now, we are just missing that little spark,” said Kien Keat.

“I’m looking at doing well in the World Championships and beyond ... Boon Heong and I can still play but we do have our bad days. We’re still the country’s top pair.

“We are skipping the Swiss Open next week and hope to be ready for the Australian Open next month.”

The duo last won a Super Series title at the 2010 Malaysian Open and their coach, Paulus Firman, certainly has a lot of work to do to turn their fortune around.

RESULTS:

SECOND ROUND

Men’s singles: Tommy Sugiarto (Ina) bt Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-12, 21-8; Nguyen Tien Minh (Vie) bt Sourabh Verma (Ind) 21-19, 21-19; Lee Chong Wei (Mas) bt Wang Zhengming (Chn) 21-17, 21-19; Jan O Jorgensen (Den) bt Sony Dwi Kuncoro (Ina) 11-7 (rtd); P. Kashyap (Ind) bt Kenichi Tago (Jpn) 21-18, 21-12; Tanongsak Saensomboonsuk (Tha) bt Sho Sasaki (Jpn) 21-9, 21-11.

Men’s doubles: Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif-Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (Mas) bt Ricky Karanda Suwardi-Mohd Ulinnuha (Ina) 21-19, 21-15; Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa (Jpn) bt Robert Blair-Tan Bin Shen (Sco-Mas) 17-21, 21-13, 21-14; Liu Xialong-Qiu Zihan (Chn) bt Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (Den) 11-21, 21-11, 27-25; Kim Ki-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Kor) bt Hirokatsu Hashimoto-Noriyasu Hirata (Jpn) 21-18, 21-18; Mohd Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Lee Sheng-mu-Tsai Chia-tsin (Tpe) 23-21, 21-16.

Women’s singles: Saina Nehwal (Ind) bt Belaetrix Manuputi (Ina) 21-16, 21-11; Wang Shixian (Chn) bt Jiang Yanjiao (Chn) 21-11, 21-8; Lindaweni Fanetri (Ina) bt Porntip Buranaprasertsuk (Tha) 21-14, 21-10; Tine Baun (Den) bt Li Han (Chn) 21-13, 22-20; Juliane Schenk (Ger) bt P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-17, 21-14; Eriko Hirose (Jpn) bt Bae Yeon-ju (Kor) 20-22, 22-20, 21-19.

Women’s doubles: Pia Zebadiah Bernadeth-Rizki Amelia Pradipta (Ina) bt Lee So-hee-Shun Seung-chan (Kor) 21-12, 21-17; Ma Jin-Tang Jinhua (Chn) bt Anggia Shitta Awanda-Greysa Polii (Ina) 21-14, 21-15; Eun Kyung-eun-Kim Ha-na (Kor) bt Poon Lok Yan-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg) 22-20, 21-19; Miyuki Maeda-Satoko Suetsuna (Jpn) bt Anneke Feinya Agustin-Nitya Krishinda Maheswari (Ina) 17-21, 21-12, 21-9; Cheng Shu-Zhao Yunlei (Chn) bt Bao Yixin-Tian Qing (Chn) 21-17, 11-6 (rtd); Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei (Mas) bt Eom Hye-won-Jang Ye-na (Kor) 21-13, 17-21, 21-17.

Mixed doubles: Mohd Rijal-Debby Susanto (Ina) bt Jorrit de Ruiter-Samantha Barning (Ned) 21-12, 21-14; Sudket Prapakamol-T. Saralee (Tha) bt Ong Jian Guo-Lim Yin Loo (Mas) 21-14, 21-13; Tantowi Ahmad-Lilyana Natsir (Ina) bt Kim Ki-jung-Jung Kyung-eun (Kor) 21-5, 21-11; Robert Mateusiak-Nadiezda Zieba (Pol) bt V Diju-Jwala Gutta (Ind) 21-17, 21-16.

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