SINGAPORE: Former badminton world champion Loh Kean Yew got past the second round of this year’s BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, besting Indonesia-born Azerbaijan player Ade Resky Dwicahyo, 21-4, 21-11 on Tuesday evening (Aug 22), in just 24 minutes.
TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2023
MS – R32
21 21 🇸🇬LOH Kean Yew🏅
4 11 🇦🇿Ade Resky DWICAHYO🕚 in 24 minutes
— BWFScore (@BWFScore) August 22, 2023
Netizens praised Loh for a match well-played.
In the first round on Monday (Aug 21), the 26-year-old athlete defeated Spain’s Pablo Abian 21-12, 21-9 in 28 minutes. After which Loh Kean Yew told Olympics.com, “I just focus on each point and each match, and hopefully, I can just keep going like this.”
Loh Kean Yew is currently ranked 7th in the world, Abian is 85th, and Dwicahyo is 75th.
Olympics.com reported that Loh Kean Yew is likely to play against India’s H S Prannoy, currently ranked 9th in the world, for the round of 16, assuming that Prannoy defeats Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, ranked 20th in the world, later on Tuesday (Aug 22).
Several matches have already been announced for the men’s singles round of 16 games on Wednesday (Aug 23), including Denmark’s Anders Antonsen, Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, and China’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Born on 26 June 1997 in Penang, Malaysia, Loh started young, playing for the Penang state team and winning the 2009 National Junior Grand Prix Finals in the under-12 category.
After early success in Malaysia, Loh moved to Singapore at the age of 13 to attend Singapore Sports School’s four-year program from 2010 to 2013 on a scholarship offered by the school.
He followed in the footsteps of his older brother Kean Hean who arrived in Singapore in 2009 and joined Montfort Secondary School. Kean Hean also represents Singapore in badminton and is a doubles specialist.
After graduating from Singapore Sports School, Loh Kean Yew studied Sports and Leisure Management at Republic Polytechnic before dropping out to become a professional player.
Loh Kean Yew became a Singaporean citizen in 2015. /TISG
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