Loh Kean Yew spending Valentine’s Day ‘with himself’ before heading for rematch with Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia

Singapore — The country’s first world badminton champion, Loh Kean Yew, posted an early Valentine’s Day greeting on Feb 9 on his Instagram post, saying he was “spending quality time this Valentine’s Day” with himself and his Seiko Prospex.

He posted a photo of what looked like a date night, with his very nice watch prominently featured. Loh became a “brand friend” for Seiko Prospex last month.

The Singaporean champ is playing at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) at Shah Alam, Malaysia, next week.

But Loh may have actually had more company, as there were two drinking glasses in the photo.

His post resulted in some good-natured ribbing from fellow badminton players Ong Yew Sin and Viktor Axelsen.

Both are elite athletes in the badminton world, with Malaysia’s Ong reaching 11th in world rankings. Denmark’s Axelsen, meanwhile, is the reigning Olympic Champion. 

Loh has been training with Axelsen in Dubai since early this year.

At the BATC next week, Loh faces off against All England winner Lee Zii Jia from Malaysia.

On Feb 9, The New Straits Times (NST) called the upcoming match a “Battle of the titans,” characterizing the game as “epic” and a “titanic showdown” that is “sure to take centerstage” at the games, particularly because there will be fewer players this year. 

Kento Momota of Japan and Antony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia will not be participating in this year’s BATC. Badminton players from China, Taiwan and Thailand, will also not be joining the BATC games due to Covid-19.

Lee, like Loh, is 24. He has faced the Singaporean athlete four times and lost the last two.

The onus is on Lee to get his country through to the semi-Asian finals, NST quoted one coach as saying. 

“I believe that Zii Jia will be the deciding factor when we play Singapore because after his 50-50 performance last season, he must try to win that important point. If he does, we have a very good chance,” said Mr Hendrawan, the national men’s singles head coach for Malaysia.

Lee, who is ranked number 7 in the world, resigned from the national team after losing to Loh at the Hylo Open final in Germany last November in order to turn professional. /TISG

Read also: “I was… in control of the game.” Lakshya Sen on how he defeated Loh Kean Yew at the India Open

“I was… in control of the game.” Lakshya Sen on how he defeated Loh Kean Yew at the India Open