Loh Kean Yew one win away from becoming Singapore’s first Asian badminton champion
Loh Kean Yew is already in the history books by becoming the first Singaporean to reach a Badminton Asia Championships final, and the world No. 7 will be eyeing the regional crown with another win on Sunday.
On Saturday, the 2021 world champion beat China’s 14th-ranked Lu Guangzu 21-19, 21-15 in 42 minutes at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall in Dubai to advance to Sunday’s final, where he will meet Indonesia’s world No. 2 Anthony Ginting.
If he succeeds in overcoming Ginting – whom he lost to in their last three encounters – Loh will be just the eighth player to win the world and Asian titles.
He told The Straits Times: “I’m happy to create history, and I want to continue to focus on the next match and myself instead of winning or losing. I will give my all, and may the better player win.”
Despite a sluggish start to the year in which he won just six out of 12 matches – he also contracted Covid-19 in March – Loh has roared to life at the continental showpiece. He took apart India’s Lakshya Sen (24th), Jordan’s Bahaedeen Ahmad Alshannik (102nd), Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu (20th) and now Lu in straight sets.
Against another fierce attacker, Loh initially struggled with his consistency and court positioning in the opener, trailing 11-9 at the interval.
While he could not reclaim the lead over the next 16 points despite producing 400kmh smashes and a clever variety of shots, he never allowed Lu an advantage of more than two points, and managed to pinch the first game.
The second game started off just as close, but the turning point was when Loh levelled matters at 5-5. The 25-year-old pulled off a shot after a pirouette, then a diving save, before punching the shuttlecock into an unguarded spot to leave Lu staring in disbelief.
Tensions continued to build in the game as Loh was told by the umpire not to shout after winning a point to make it 15-11, before the official ruled the point in his favour despite Lu’s insistence that the shuttlecock had come off the Singaporean’s racket before going out.
Lu, 26, would narrow the gap to 17-15 against a muted Loh, but that was as close as it got as the latter won the last four points before sinking to his knees as he realised the significance of his achievement. Also, the final on Sunday will be Loh’s first since losing to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the Hanoi SEA Games final last May.
Loh, who delighted fans by tossing his racket into the stands, said: “To be honest, I totally forgot about the umpire’s warning towards the end. I was really in the zone and I felt I was just celebrating a point and not screaming excessively.”
National singles coach Kelvin Ho praised his player’s efforts this week and urged him to continue playing with hunger and passion.
He added: “The plan today was to break the opponent’s momentum with Kean Yew’s own variation of shots and he did well to focus throughout and calm down at crucial points to maintain the initiative and control the pace.
“He will need to recover well, plan and prepare his train of thoughts well and let it flow on the court. I believe anything is possible for him.”
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
