Loh Kean Yew comes from behind to beat world No. 6 Kodai Naraoka at India Open
Loh Kean Yew came from behind to start his India Open campaign with a convincing 18-21, 21-9, 21-7 victory over Japan’s world No. 6 Kodai Naraoka on Wednesday.
The Japanese, who finished runner-up at last week’s Malaysia Open, initially dominated the round of 32 encounter at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in Delhi as he led world No. 7 Loh 11-5.
While Loh fought back to draw level at 17-17, Naraoka held firm to take the first game 21-18.
The Japanese claimed the first two points of the second game but could not find an answer to Loh’s powerful smashes as the Singaporean seized control of the game and won 21-9.
Growing in confidence, Loh raced to an 8-0 lead in the third game before closing the match out in 56 minutes.
Loh’s victory on Wednesday takes their head-to-head tally to 2-0. The Singaporean had beaten Naraoka in their previous encounter at the 2019 Russian Open.
The 25-year-old will face Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus next in the round of 16.
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