SINGAPORE: Badminton star Loh Kean Yew has been on a winning streak for three days in a row at the BWF Korea Open 2023 in Yeosu, winning against Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong 22-20, 21-19 in a 25-minute match on Friday afternoon (Jul 21).
Korea Open 2023
MS – QF22 21🇸🇬LOH Kean Yew🏅
20 19🇲🇾NG Tze Yong🕚 in 45 minutes
— sei (@seirawr) July 21, 2023
On Wednesday, Loh bested Ng’s teammate Leong Jun Hao, 21-10, 21-14 at the round of 32.
On Thursday, he beat China’s Zhao Junpeng, 21-19, 17-21, 21-6, to advance to the quarterfinals.
Loh faces Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, the number one seed at this year’s Korea Open, on Saturday (July 22).
Ng Tze Yong 🇲🇾 lost to Loh Kean Yew 🇸🇬
20-22
19-21Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin 🇲🇾 lost to Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto 🇮🇩
9-21
21-23Tight match indeed (except 1st game. jetlag ke 😫). With this, 🇲🇾 has no representative anymore in the #KoreaOpen2023
Next 👉🏻 ✈️ 🇯🇵 Open pic.twitter.com/5yP516FyUU
— Z 🇲🇾💎 (@theone_xyz2) July 21, 2023
It is not expected to be a walk in the park for the Singaporean athlete. The 26-year-old Loh is currently ranked eighth in the world’s standings, while Kodai is ranked fourth.
Former world champion Loh Kean Yew 🇸🇬 encounters Ng Tze Yong 🇲🇾.#BWFWorldTour #KoreaOpen2023 pic.twitter.com/Oi3A4Km1Cn
— BWF (@bwfmedia) July 21, 2023
Last month, Loh appeared to be in fine form as he breezed past Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo at the first round of the Indonesia Open in Jakarta, 21-15, 23-21, in a 45-minute match, leading nearly all the way.
However, he was later bested by China’s Li Shifeng, the reigning All England Open men’s singles champion. The 23-year-old Li is currently ranked fifth in the world. Li made it to the semi-finals before getting defeated by Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, 26, and who is now ranked second in the world.
At the finals of the Indonesia Open, Ginting went up against Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, the best player in the world.
The Korea Open is the second tournament this year for Loh Kean Yew to reach the semifinals.
In April, at the Badminton Asia Championships, Loh was bested by Ginting, who went on to take home the gold.
/TISG
Loh Kean Yew sails through first round at Indonesia Open 2023