Jason Teh just one match from ending badminton title drought
A new year has begun, but the same goals remain for Singapore badminton player Jason Teh – ending his title drought on the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour.
And across the net at the Thailand Masters on Feb 1, the 24-year-old was staring at an opponent of the same age who has the accomplishments that he hopes to achieve.
Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen has competed at the Olympics and has won three lower-tier international titles. But it was the Singaporean who advanced on Feb 1, when he beat 42nd-ranked Nguyen 19-21, 21-18, 21-9 in the semi-finals at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.
The world No. 30 will take on China’s 39th-ranked Wang Zhengxing, who beat fellow Chinese Zhu Xuanchen, in the final on Feb 2. This is Teh’s fourth final in five months as he looks to end a wretched run of seven successive losses in finals.
“I focused on playing the best game I could today and I’m happy to make the final. I will give everything I’ve got and enjoy the final,” he said.
Teh earned his ticket the hard way after surviving a 72-minute match in the US$240,000 (S$325,000) BWF World Tour Super 300 event against a resolute rival, who was in 2022 invited by Denmark’s two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen to a Dubai training camp.
Nguyen clicked into gear early in the game, gleefully pouncing on shots in mid-court and at the net.
But Teh kept pace with his rival, never letting the gap widen beyond three points. With the score level at 18-18, a resilient Nguyen proved hard to beat as an anxious Teh committed unforced errors and conceded the first game.
With yet another loss looming, Teh displayed his new-found maturity and hunger to bounce back in the second game, racing to a 16-7 lead as Nguyen started to show signs of fatigue. The Irish player was in a 97-minute quarter-final against Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan a day earlier.
He dug deep to close the gap to 17-18, but the 1.83m Teh unleashed a torrent of smashes to take the game and level the score at 1-1.
Teh was unstoppable in the decider, and not even a yellow card – a penalty for taking too long to get back on court – could derail him as he stormed to a 21-9 win.
Teh said: “I didn’t expect Nhat to be that quick and tricky. From the second set, I was more patient and watched his shots before I made my moves. I’m learning not to let losing the first game affect me psychologically. I just told myself to forget about the first game and restart and refocus for the second game.
“I don’t think the yellow card was necessary because it was right after the mid-game interval. The umpire called me back to the court, but the banana I was snacking on was dropping off my bag, so I returned to put it back properly. I just had to block the incident from my mind and focus on winning the rallies.”
National singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun urged Teh to “be ready to fight like a crazy dog” if he wants his first international title.
She said: “Jason showed more variations in stroke choices in the third game today, which allowed him to romp to victory.
“Wang Zhengxing is left-handed and Jason must be aware of how to adapt to his style. He needs to be able to balance attacking smashes with a wide variety of other strategic shots.”
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