Loh Kean Yew makes it to the quarter-finals! Can he take Hylo Open again this year?

Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, Hylo Open’s champion last year, seems to be retaining the title as he racked up successive wins in this year’s Hylo Open at Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken, Germany.

Loh won the Hylo Open in November of last year, defeating Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, who bowed out in the third set due to an injury. A month later, Loh won the 2021 BWF World Championships men’s singles tournament in Huelva, Spain, becoming Singapore’s first-ever men’s singles world champion.

Loh Kean Yew, Shi Yuqi in Hylo Open

For this year’s Hylo Open, Loh bested China’s Shi Yuqi, 21-5, 22-20, in the first round of the match on Nov 2, just two weeks after Shi, currently ranked 37th in the world, had won the Denmark Open. And on Thursday (Nov 3), he won over Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren Rustavito, 17-21, 21-15, 21-19, in three sets, in a game that lasted almost an hour.

Congrats for the win and be prepared for your new career-high ranking, Uncle Loh! #BWFRankingPrediction #BadmintonEropa @reallohkeanyew https://t.co/e3D1LiH6RE pic.twitter.com/lUiTFdW3tk

— Badminton Eropa (@badmintoneropa) November 3, 2022

Highlights of that nail-biter of a match can be seen below:

Loh is ranked world number 5, while Shesar is ranked 23rd.

On Friday, Loh faces another formidable opponent from Indonesia, world number 6 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, who bested Loh in the semi-finals of this year’s Singapore Open.

The Singaporean 2021 World Champion has reached the quarter-finals thrice in the past month.

On Oct 21, in just half an hour, Loh bested Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, arguably the best male badminton player in the world at the moment, in the Denmark Open, 21-17 and 21-10, ending the Danish champion’s 39-game winning streak.

😣 well played my friend @reallohkeanyew . For me, onto the next one 💪🏻 https://t.co/R4ABtjB84c

— Viktor Axelsen (@ViktorAxelsen) October 21, 2022

However, a few days later, it was Axelsen’s turn to trounce Loh at the French Open quarter-finals 21-11, 21-17, going on to beat his countryman, Rasmus Gemke, to take the title for the men’s singles. 

Solid play today 💯 @ViktorAxelsen all the best for next match! 🔥💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/MYKqWCuCxi

— Loh Kean Yew (@reallohkeanyew) October 28, 2022

/TISG

2 in a row: Loh Kean Yew racks up another win at Denmark Open; faces Viktor Axelsen in quarter-final