Kelvin Ho, the 'big brother' coach always in Loh Kean Yew's corner

The pivotal point of Loh Kean Yew's ascent to a world champion came, not during the this month's tournament, but in the second round of October's French Open.

There, in Paris, Loh had pulled off a first-round upset of All England Champion Lee Zii Jia but then lost to Indian Lakshya Sen, a player he had beaten in the Dutch Open final.

National singles coach Kelvin Ho said: "It was not the first time Kean Yew had let comments on social media or his own expectations get to him.

"In 2019, he also beat Hong Kong's second seed Angus Ng and then lost in the second round to Japan's Koki Watanabe.

"I told him his mentality wasn't right - you may think you are there, but you are not there yet. Don't get ahead of yourself and think what the final result should be, and forget about your processes and routines which you should focus on.

"He could have not listened, but he took it onboard. The next week he won the Hylo Open in Germany, and now he is a world champion."

By his side, in his corner and even sometimes sharing the same bed, the 31-year-old Ho has been ever-present in Loh’s career over the past decade. But their telepathic partnership almost did not happen.

Ho was a national player himself, but unlike Loh, he was a "super late bloomer" who played volleyball in primary school but disliked it.

Badminton was a casual dalliance until he was 13 when he made it his co-curricular activity at Ang Mo Kio Secondary School. He received proper coaching for the first time and soon became the school's top singles player and beat combined schools and Singapore Sports School opponents.

"I enjoyed the feeling of being good at something, of winning and improving. I loved badminton so much, I didn't want to do anything else," Ho told The Straits Times.

So, like Loh, he quit school at 17 to pursue his passion full-time after being scouted by the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) and went on to make the bronze-winning 2009 SEA Games team.

But things quickly fell apart. In 2011, the SBA disbanded its National Team 2, leaving Ho hurt and lost. He said: "I was going to complete National Service then and looking forward to try and continue my playing career and that happened.

"I was angry and disappointed. I felt I had made sacrifices and was so excited to train harder and go further after NS. I woke up as usual the following day to prepare for 8am training and then realised I'm no longer a national player."

Ho thought of giving up on badminton but his dislike for books meant that he returned to school as a coach instead. Nine months later, the SBA offered an olive branch in the form of a youth coach position.

"I was already a coach by then and was more at peace so my mentality also changed from a player to someone who wants to help the team, and I was excited by this opportunity," he said.

That was when he first encountered a "raw but talented" Loh, when the Sports School the teenager attended had combined sessions with the national youth teams.

Ho was gradually promoted to national assistant coach before his current appointment, displaying the same never-say-die attitude as when he persevered through six attempts to pass his basic sports science module to secure his coaching credentials.

His secondment with the Sports School was beneficial, as he learnt from its badminton academy's former head coach Bai Lihua and general manager Desmond Tan on how to manage a team, plan training programmes, analyse players and monitor their progression.

He said: "I used to be nicer and less direct with players because I didn't want to demoralise them. But I realised I need to be more direct if I want to help players improve faster. And I will listen to their feedback so we can discuss and come up with a solution that fits."

"I also learnt from national chief coach Mulyo (Handoyo), who focuses more on shot quality, shuttle pace and placement, and doesn't over-complicate things because he knows the sport is ever-changing and there is no one-size-fits-all solution."

There have been online clips of Ho pounding his chest while coaching Loh at the Tokyo Olympics, and he repeated the action in the World Championships final, earning him the nickname 'Gorilla' among his friends.

The father of one said with a laugh: "On the court, Kean Yew will always look at me for feedback after every point. At crucial points, I would thump my chest to urge him to be brave and not be over-excited or scared.

"Players have habits and they have blind spots, so coaches are there to point these out to them when there is a need to change direction or pace. And his quickness to absorb and adapt such impromptu instructions have improved a lot in the past few months."

The bond between athlete and coach is evident. Outside of competitions, the duo bond over hotpot and durians. At overseas events when the hotels run out of twin sharing rooms, they also share the bed.

Loh, who is the youngest of four brothers, said: "He has become like an older brother. We are very close, he knows want I think and I cannot lie to him, so whatever I feel I will just tell him.

"Like in the French Open, he knew I was going to be affected and told me to be careful. I didn't listen to him and I messed up, but I learnt from that.

"He has been a tremendous help. When I was in NS, he trained me when I had nights out on his own time. And he made a lot of sacrifices not just for me, but also other players. It's just how he passionate he is as a coach, which not many people see.

"Without Kelvin here, I wouldn't have become world champion. Hopefully, we can continue to work together until Paris 2024."