Smashing success for Singapore’s shuttlers in Indonesia Open
Loh stuns world No. 1 Momota; Yeo is first S'porean to reach BWF World Tour Finals
National shuttler Loh Kean Yew claimed the biggest scalp of his career as he shocked Japan's world No. 1 Kento Momota 21-7, 17-21, 21-19 in 69 minutes yesterday to reach the Indonesia Open quarter-finals.
The world No. 26 will face Denmark's 21st-ranked Hans-Kristian Vittinghus at the Bali International Convention Centre today.
But the fearless Loh will quietly fancy his chances of advancing further into the US$850,000 (S$1.16 million) Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 1000 event after conquering the off-colour Momota, who had won the Super 750 Indonesia Masters the previous week.
After tucking into a well-deserved burger and a relaxing hot bath, Loh told The Straits Times: "The game plan was to outlast him, while taking as much initiative as possible, because he had played in a Sunday final and another tough match on Tuesday."
Displaying niftier footwork, he repeatedly breached his opponent's famed defence with delicate net play and a series of ferocious cross-court smashes to the southpaw's backhand.
After being thumped in the first game in just 12 minutes, the 27-year-old Momota rallied from 9-2 down in the second game to force a decider.
In the final game, the reigning world champion looked like he had the upper hand at 14-9 as his less-experienced rival made more unforced errors.
But Loh, 24, fought back and required just one match-point to seal the huge upset and his first win in two attempts over Momota, who missed a seemingly routine kill at the net.
"I was lucky to win the match-point," said Loh. "He started gaining in confidence from the second game and I was feeling fatigued.
"But I thought I should just tahan (hang in there), and throw everything out there. The pressure was all on him as world No. 1, while I had nothing to lose."
Since his one-month training stint with Viktor Axelsen after the Olympics, Loh has beaten a string of top players in the past month including Chinese Taipei's world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen and Malaysia's All England champion Lee Zii Jia (seventh).
But Loh refuses to let this biggest giant-killing act get to his head, saying: "Because of consecutive tournaments and how far (Momota) progressed, he was probably at 60 per cent while I was at 80 per cent.
"It could have been a different story if we were both fresh."
Meanwhile, Yeo Jia Min became the first Singaporean to qualify for the prestigious Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals, despite losing 21-15, 19-21, 21-14 to Japanese world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi in the women's singles second round.
The Dec 1-5 Finals feature the top eight singles and doubles players with the most World Tour points in a calendar year.
FOR MORE, READ THE STRAITS TIMES
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