SINGAPORE - Loh Kean Yew's fantastic run at the Indonesia Open continued on Friday (Nov 26) as he made short work of Denmark's world No. 21 Hans-Kristian Vittinghus to progress into the semi-finals.
The 26th-ranked Loh beat Vittinghus 21-9, 21-4 in an incredible 24 minutes at the Bali International Convention Centre.
A day earlier, Singaporean had claimed the biggest scalp of his career when he upset Japan's world No. 1 and defending world champion Kento Momota in 69 minutes.
"It was definitely not as easy as it seemed, as there were a lot of mental battles during the game," insisted the 24-year-old Loh.
He added with a chuckle that all it took to recover from the Momota encounter was a relaxing 15-minute soak in the bathtub.
Vittinghus, in a social media post, admitted that the match was "one to forget".
"Well played Kean," he said. "I hope I can make you work just a little harder next time."
Loh will now face another Dane, world No. 13 Rasmus Gemke, in the semi-final of the US$850,000 (S$1.16 million) Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 1000 event on Saturday.
"I may have beaten Gemke the last time (but) he's definitely giving his all for revenge, so I have to prepare myself to the fullest as well," he said.
National singles coach Kelvin Ho said that he expects Gemke to "play the long game" and try to capitalise on any mistakes Loh might make.
He added: "One of the keys would be us focusing on Kean Yew taking the initiative on court.
"Kean Yew must prepare well mentally, be patient and take initiative in play, all concurrently, for this upcoming match."
Loh has been on a tear since his one-month training stint with Tokyo 2020 men's singles champion Viktor Axelsen after the Olympics.
Not only did he win the Super 500 Hylo Open in Germany on Nov 7, he has also beaten a string of top players in the past month.
Aside from Momota, he has also bested Chinese Taipei's world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen, Malaysia's All England champion Lee Zii Jia (seventh), Taiwanese Wang Tzu-wei (11th), Denmark's Rasmus Gemke (13th) and India's Lakshya Sen (19th).
Loh is the first Singaporean to reach a Super 1000 semi-final since the BWF World Tour began in 2018.
