Two days ago, local shuttler Loh Kean Yew shocked the badminton world by defeating tournament top seed Kento Momota at the Indonesia Open.
Fans across Singapore rejoiced with the utmost pride, as one of our own not only managed to get to the quarter-finals of a Super 1000 tournament, but beat the world number one in the process.
Ranked 26th in the world, not everyone would have put their money on Loh at first, but he’s certainly proving everyone wrong, as he’s now one step closer to the final.
Loh Kean Yew Continues to be in Form As He Trashed Denmark’s Player to Qualify for Indonesia Open Semi-Finals
Loh smashed his way through to the semi-final of the Indonesia Open, trouncing Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus.
Vittinghus is ranked 21st in the world, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell from the game as Loh beat him 21-9, 21-4 in just 25 minutes.
He continued right from where he left off in his game against Kento, attaining a 12-5 lead in the first game and a 12-1 in the second. Vittinghus tried to make a comeback, but Loh was simply too good on the day.
Next up for Loh is Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke, who is ranked 13th in the world.
Loh’s outstanding run to the semi-final is quite a feat in itself, as he’s the first Singaporean to qualify for a Super 1000 semi-final.
Started Playing Badminton at age 7
Born in Penang, Loh reportedly started playing badminton at the age of seven.
At the age of nine, he was called up to the Penang state team. He moved to Singapore at the age of 13 after receiving a scholarship from the Singapore Sports School, but was not pleased with the move at first.
“When the time came for me to move here, I was angry because my friends were all in Malaysia. But my mother already bought the ticket to send me here, so what to do?” he said in an interview with The Straits Times.
He and his older brother later became Singapore citizens, and he said was honoured to represent the country.
He then quit his studies at Republic Polytechnic to pursue a professional career in badminton.
Loh is certainly not short of honours, with perhaps the biggest win of his career coming last month when he defeated Malaysia’s world No. 8 Lee Zii Jia in the US$320,000 (S$432,000) Hylo Open in Germany.
The final for the tournament will be played tomorrow (28 Nov), with the singles winner walking away with US$59,500.
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