SWEET MEMORIES 

For Team VICTOR Indonesia’s Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, Birmingham was where the new chapter began for them. They won their first Superseries Premier title here at the All England back in 2012 and have posted a 19-1 tournament record since, only were tripped up in the final stage last year. They will be the second seeds of the 2016 event; familiar foes, Chinese No.1 Zhang/Zhao are at the top of the draw and the two will only be going to meet on Sunday.

 

Tontowi Ahmad (L) and Liliyana Natsir meet home media before taking off for the All England Open. (Credit: VICTOR Indonesia)

 

Three-time champion Liliyana Natsir (Credit: VICTOR Indonesia)

Tontowi Ahmad (Credit: VICTOR Indonesia)

 

 BACKING UP 

Korea’s fan favorites, “Gentle Monster” Ko Sung Hyun and the shy and sweet Kim Ha Na continued their winning ways at the German Open GPG last week, after an all-conquering second-half of 2015 when they became #TheRealDeal at the Denmark Open Superseries Premier and French Open Superseries. They’ve also swept away two GPG titles in Taipei, Taiwan and Jeonju, Korea, before they capped off the great year with another silver medal at the Dubai Finals.

 

Ko Sung Hyun/Kim Ha Na at German Open GPG. (Credit: Badmintonphoto)

 

 

 RACE LEADERS 

Ko Sung Hyun and Kim Ha Na’s impressive rise has seen them topping the list on BWF’s Race to Rio. Also leading the pace among the VICTOR roster are doubles stars Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong, who played in the German Open as well as a tune-up and only lost in the final to good friends and compatriots Ko and Shin Baek Choel.

 

Yoo (L) and Lee (M) were the runners at last week's German Open to their former partners Shin (R) and Ko.  (Credit: Badmintonphoto)

 

 (Credit: Badmintonphoto)

 

 

 ONE DESTINATION 

Malaysia’s Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying are edging closer to an Olympic Games return. The former World No.3 and 2012 London qualifiers suffered a major hit when Goh was forced out of the tour with a nagging right knee injury in 2014. She came back with Chan after a surgery in 2015, with zero ranking points; however, the two have been inching their ways back up with a hustling schedule and are now sitting at the thirteenth place in the BWF’s Race to Rio rankings. The Games will feature a 16-team format.

 

 

Goh Liu Ying and Chan Peng Soon talk Olympic dreams in "The VICTOR Tour: Expedition"

 

Goh (L) and Chan currently sit as high as no.9 on BWF's Race to Rio.

 

Goh mounts a comeback after a potentially devastating right knee injury.

 

Goh and Chan are featured in "VICTOR Formula", demostrating doubles training methods as coached by VICTOR brand consultant Morten Frost.