SINGAPORE: Former world champion Loh Kean Yew is currently in Suzhou, China, for the Sudirman Cup but will have a home-court advantage at the Singapore Badminton Open to be held this year from June 6 to 11.
In Suzhou, Loh bested Egypt’s Adham Hatem Elgamal, 21-8, 21-13, but was defeated by Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, currently ranked number one in the world, 21-23, 21-13, 21-16.
Loh, 25, the men’s singles world champion at the 2021 BWF World Championship in Huelva, Spain, is the first Singaporean to achieve this feat. He is currently fourth in world rankings.
While he has performed well in various recent tournaments, finishing first once again has proven to be elusive. He made it all the way to the finals last month at the Asia Championships but lost to world number 2, Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, 12–21, 8–21.
In June, Loh and reigning Commonwealth Games mixed doubles champions Terry Hee and Jessica Tan, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Yeo Jia Min, and women’s doubles pair Crystal Wong Jia Ying and Jin Yu Jia will be representing Singapore at the 2023 Karim Family Foundation KFF Singapore Badminton Open.
Organised by the Singapore Badminton Association, the Singapore Badminton Open will take place at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, It is a BWF World Tour Super 750 series event, where players will be battling it out for top honours and a slice of the US$850,000 prize purse and crucial Olympic ranking points.
Perhaps it’s a good omen that Loh will start out against Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu, whom he bested for the first time at the Asia Championships, 21-19, 21-19.
From that point on, Loh will be up against some formidable foes in the form of Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, currently ranked seventh in the world but who has defeated Loh in their last five matches; Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, former men’s singles Asian champion ranked eighth in the world, and Japan’s Kento Momota, who has won the Singapore Open twice.
And of course, Loh way well find himself in a match against defending champion Ginting.
Loh, who has been defeated in six out of eight encounters with Indonesian players in the past ten months, was quoted earlier this month in The Straits Times as saying that the Indonesian athletes may have figured out the way to beat him.
Nevertheless, he told ST that he is “still trying and trying to improve as much as possible.
“Hopefully, things get better soon.”
/TISG