Badminton: Loh Kean Yew knocked out of BWF World Tour Finals after second group stage defeat

BANGKOK – The rapturous crowd were on the edge of their seats after Singapore’s world No. 3 Loh Kean Yew saved two match points and earned one of his own to make it 21-20 in the second game of his Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals Group B match against Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting.

But a decider was not forthcoming as world No. 7 Ginting claimed the next two points to win 21-12, 23-21 in 38 minutes and advance to the semi-finals at the Singaporean’s expense on Friday.

The top two from each of the two groups qualify for the semi-finals, and Loh finished third behind Ginting and fellow Indonesian Jonatan Christie, who beat Taiwanese world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen 21-13, 12-21, 21-17 earlier in the day.

Loh’s consolation was a cheque for US$16,500 (S$22,300), while Chou took home US$9,000.

After the match, Loh looked quizzically at his racket after missing his last retrieve, before whipping the fans into a frenzy again by throwing it into the Nimibutr Arena stands.

In a way, the 25-year-old was signing off his most intense season yet. He played 65 and won 46 matches in 21 individual and team events, en route to a career-high ranking.

This was more than double the 30 matches (23 wins) he played in 2021 across 10 tournaments.

Despite the unprecedented exertions – the effects of which were evident in his losses to Christie and Ginting – Loh displayed fighting spirit and glimpses of brilliance but looked off the pace at times.

He said: “Other than the results and not making it to the semi-finals, I think I played well here and did pretty okay in terms of my processes.

“To be honest, I do feel tired after a long season and I’m looking forward to taking a complete break... before we start again at the Jan 10-15 Malaysia Open.

“Next year is going to be more intense and I may have to play in more tournaments because of the Olympic qualification (from May 1, 2023 to April 28, 2024).

“Hopefully I can do well so I don’t have to play that many events, but we won’t know how things will turn out.

“I have to get used to this tempo, and there’s still a lot for me to do to belong at this level. I need to be stronger in my fundamentals and be more consistent.”

National singles coach Kelvin Ho agreed with his player’s assessment and shared that more will be done to facilitate better periodisation for Loh.

A core team comprising Ho, assistant singles coach Loh Wei Sheng and sparring partners Vega Vio Nirwanda and Vicky Angga Saputra, will also work on helping the player improve his variety of skills, strategy and on-court solutions.

Ho added: “At one point, Kean Yew had to compete for four months straight this year...

“(He had) the Thomas Cup, SEA Games and Commonwealth Games on top of the BWF World Tour events, while top players from other countries could recover and train.

“While it was an up-and-down season for him, I’m very proud he hung in there. You can see how he ended the season strongly after having six weeks to rest and train, and we will stagger his competition schedule next season to help him get better.

“His fighting spirit is not in question. Not many people know he was under the weather before the World Tour Finals, but he still fought hard and came so close to reaching the semi-finals.”

Semi-finals on Saturday

Men’s singles

Women’s singles