It seems like Malaysian badminton fans won’t be seeing Koo Kien Keat and Ng Hui Lin playing with their badminton shuttles together as it has been announced that the top mixed doubles duo will be splitting up in time for the Denmark Open Super Series, which will take place later this month in Odense.

Kien Keat will partner up with old mate Wong Pei Tty. The competition will take place from October 20 – 25, an appropriate time frame for Malaysian players to gear up for the Southeast Asian Games which Laos will host this December.

Kien Keat and Pei Tty will take charge of the individual mixed doubles event in Laos with back-up duo of Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying.

Aside from the upcoming tournaments later this year, the duo is slated to compete in major sporting events next year including the Asian Games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games, which will take place in India.

The country’s badminton officials have decided to pair up the two once more based on their stellar results in the past. The pair won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles event at the Madrid World Championships three years ago. The coaches believe that they have what it takes to perform better in upcoming tournaments due to their proven partnership.

Jeremy Gan, the national mixed doubles coach, said that their decision to break up the current pair was “all for the best” and that mapping out a plan program for the reunited pair will be easier due to familiarity of their playing styles.