Malaysia's Tan Boon Heong has become the world's fastest smasher, with a speed clocked at 421 km/h, breaking the previous record set by Japan's Naoko Kawamae at 414 km/h. The tests were done two weeks ago and results were kept secret by the Yonex staff until today, October 22nd. This news is exclusive to Badzine.
The speed tests were done during the recently held Yonex Japan Open where Tan Boon Heong but also Markis Kido, Nova Widianto and Koo Kien Keat tried both the new Arc Saber Z-slash and their luck in breaking Kawamae's record.
It was Badzine who first told Tan about the good news - and the latter was surprised, and proud. "It really motivates me to know that I hold such a prestigious record. I have been working extra time on my smash and it is rewarding to see that it's paid off. But it's not enough to be a good badminton player," said the soft-spoken Malaysian.
It was just two weeks ago that the previous world record of 332 km/h - set by Fu Haifeng during an actual match in 2005 - had been surpassed by Japan's Kawamae. The shuttler from Tokyo didn't get to enjoy the fame for long...
During the session of tests in Tokyo, Tan Boon Heong was not the only one trying out the new racket in front of the radar: Markis Kido, Nova Widianto, Koo Kien Keat also tried their hands, but none of them beat Tan's speed of 421 km/h.
The speed tests were done during the recently held Yonex Japan Open where Tan Boon Heong but also Markis Kido, Nova Widianto and Koo Kien Keat tried both the new Arc Saber Z-slash and their luck in breaking Kawamae's record.
It was Badzine who first told Tan about the good news - and the latter was surprised, and proud. "It really motivates me to know that I hold such a prestigious record. I have been working extra time on my smash and it is rewarding to see that it's paid off. But it's not enough to be a good badminton player," said the soft-spoken Malaysian.
It was just two weeks ago that the previous world record of 332 km/h - set by Fu Haifeng during an actual match in 2005 - had been surpassed by Japan's Kawamae. The shuttler from Tokyo didn't get to enjoy the fame for long...
During the session of tests in Tokyo, Tan Boon Heong was not the only one trying out the new racket in front of the radar: Markis Kido, Nova Widianto, Koo Kien Keat also tried their hands, but none of them beat Tan's speed of 421 km/h.
