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| Thomas Cup heroes 1965. Tan Yee Khan (pic Left) and Ng Boon Bee (pic Right). Congratulating the heroes is Director Brother Ultan Paul |
Among the badminton heroes who wrested the Thomas Cup for Malaysia in 1965 were the invincible Michaelian duo, Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan.
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| (From Left -Mr Lim Kean Hooi, Ng Boon Bee, Teh Kew San (Captain), and Brother Director Ultan Paul) |
1959 & 1960 – SMI won the King’s Cup for Badminton. This was the preliminary victory of Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan which paved the way for greater things to come.
In the 1990s another Michaelian Koo Kien Keat achieved world class fame in badminton. Koo Kien Keat was a student of St Michael's from Standard 1 to Form 3. After completing his PMR in 1999 , Kien Keat was offered a sports scholarship to complete his SPM at SMK Bukit Jalil,KL, the national sports school. Kien Keat was torn between his desire to remain at St Michael's (where his heart has always been !) and to advance his badminton prospects at national and international level. His teachers and principal at St Michael's felt that his future and the national interest would best be served by his opting for SMK Bukit Jalil.
St Michael's salutes Ng Boon Bee,Tan Yee Khan and Koo Kien Keat!
(Fact File:
Koo Kien Keat is the son of Mr Koo Chiew Wa, who served at St Michael's as a lab officer for more than ten years until his retirement in 2000 )
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| Mr Koo Chiew Wa on the day of his retirement at SMI |
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| Koo Kien Keat (L) and his father Mr Koo Chiew Wa (R) |
Malaysia won the Thomas Cup in 1967 against Indonesia with a score of 6-3. The previous winner was Indonesia in 1964 against Denmark with a score of 5-4. The most unusual finale in Thomas Cup history, the challenge round of the 1967 competition was full of firsts and lasts. It was the last actual challenge round since a subsequent rules change would end the defending champion's privilege of having only to defend the Cup against a single challenger. Politically, it was first Thomas Cup finale in which the former Malaya (minus Singapore but with additional territories) competed as Malaysia, and the first finale in which domestic turmoil caused Indonesian players of Chinese ethnicity to take "Indonesian" names. Thus veteran doubles player Tan King Gwan became Darmawan Supatera and Ang Tjin Siang became Muljadi. It was the first Thomas Cup appearance of Indonesia's badminton wunderkind Rudy Hartono (two months before his eighteenth birthday). It was the last appearance for Indonesia's past Thomas Cup hero Ferry Sonneville. For reasons unclear, he was pressed into service in one of the top two singles slots ahead of younger men who were by then almost certainly stronger players than the 36 year old Sonneville. Most notably, it was the first and thus far the last final tie of Thomas Cup not to determine a champion on the court.
ReplyDeleteThe first day's play ended with a 3–1 advantage to Malaysia. With relentless attacking play Hartono stunned Tan Aik Huang 15-6, 15-8, but Malaysia won both doubles matches and the singles between Yew Cheng Hoe and Sonneville. On the second night Tan Aik Huang routed Sonneville to bring Malaysia to the verge of victory. At this point, however, young Hartono comfortably beat Yew Cheng Hoe to keep Indonesia's chances alive. Then Muljadi pulled away in the second game after winning a close first to beat Malaysian veteran Teh Kew San at third singles. Still up 4–3, Malaysia sent the world's number one doubles team of Ng Boon Bee and Tan Yee Khan onto the court to gain the vital fifth point. They seemed to be doing so easily until, up 10-2 in the second after steamrolling Muljadi and Agus Susanto in the first game, a few errors crept into their play. This encouraged ebullient Indonesian fans to try to promote a Malaysian collapse by making deafening noise on Malaysian serves, using flash photography at well timed moments, and ever more loudly cheering Malaysian errors. With no help from Indonesian authorities, IBF (BWF) officials intermittently appealed for "fair play" but in vain because the crowd's tactics were working. Plainly rattled, Boon Bee and Yee Khan let a 10-2 lead slip away into a 13-18 second game loss.
At this juncture, during what would normally have been a five minute break between games, tournament referee Herbert Scheele requested Indonesian authorities to clear the stadium and have the match continued with the crowd locked out. When this request was refused Scheele, at some personal risk, halted play. Eventually, a less than candid announcement that the match had been voluntarily suspended did help to clear the stadium, but play was never continued. Indonesia rejected a subsequent IBF (BWF) ruling that the tie be resumed in New Zealand. Thereby, it forfeited the remaining matches. Officially, if not convincingly, by a 6–3 margin Malaysia regained the Thomas Cup.