Badminton: Loh Kean Yew qualifies for India Open q-finals after beating Denmark’s Vittinghus

Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew will be making his sixth quarter-final appearance in his last seven Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour events, after reaching the last eight of the India Open with a 21-18, 21-17 victory over Denmark’s Hans-Kristian Vittinghus on Thursday.

And while the world No. 7 is pleased with his consistency, he is also hoping to go a step further.

To do so, Loh, who reached four BWF Tour semi-finals in 2022, will have to overcome his nemesis Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarter-finals after the SEA Games champion defeated Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 11-21, 21-12, 21-17 on Thursday.

The 25-year-old’s last four meetings against the Thai have ended in defeats, with the most recent one coming in last week’s Malaysia Open quarter-finals.

He said: “I’m happy that I’m being consistent, but at the same time I hope to make a breakthrough too...

“Regardless of who the opponent is, I need to prepare myself to the fullest and hope for the best.”

Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) technical director Martin Andrew added: “Kean Yew has to focus on the things he does well... It’s a new match and he’ll be ready to perform.

“We know he will always give 100 per cent but in performance sport that isn’t always going to guarantee a win.”

It was a tight first game between Loh and world No. 34 Vittinghus at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi, with the Danish veteran levelling the scores several times.

But Loh never looked back after leading 17-16 and won 21-18 when Vittinghus’ shot went wide.

Loh raced to a 3-0 lead in the second game but Vittinghus, 37, fought back again. Both players took turns to lead in another close contest, which did not see either player gain an advantage of more than two points.

That was until the Loh made it 20-17 when his opponent’s attempt hit the net. He then made no mistake to seal the win.

On the match, the former world champion said: “Hans-Kristian played a good game and he made it quite challenging for me today... I just focused on each point during that moment.”

Andrew praised Loh’s performance, saying: “Playing a fierce competitor is hard, especially one like Hans-Kristian Vittinghus, he doesn’t give you anything so every point you have to focus. I think he did that quite well today.

“His consistency has improved over the last 18 months, it was one of his main development areas.

“Now we work hard to keep the level high every match – he can improve much more still in many small areas.”