For Loh Kean Yew, 'it's all about the hunger'

Last December, Loh Kean Yew made history as the first Singaporean to win a Badminton World Federation World Championships title.

The 24-year-old pulled off major upsets and stunned the sporting community by beating world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and world No. 3 Anders Antonsen, before besting world No. 14 Kidambi Srikanth in the finals to clinch the gold.

A lesser player might have caved in in the face of that pressure, but Loh was unfazed. In fact, he relishes going up against the world's best and brightest.

"I like to play as an underdog," he says. "The pressure is on them - I'm just going in to enjoy the game and challenge myself. When I play with them, I hope to see how far I am from them, what I can improve on and what I can learn from them."

With his historic win, his days as an underdog might well be over, but he is not one to rest on his laurels. The World Championships win is already in the past.

"Everyone views success differently. When I achieve one goal, I'd set another goal even higher. I actually want to forget about being the world champion," he says, adding with a laugh that he is "totally not used to people coming up to me and saying, 'Hey, world champion'".

Dwelling on one win is not what he wants to do, he adds.

"I'm working on consistency, so one win is not really a thing. Of course, nobody can peak all the time, or win all the time.

"That's why players like Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan are such role models, because they win almost all the time," he says, referring to the former Malaysian and Chinese world champions. "I won't call myself really good until I become consistent at the top."

Loh has displayed this drive and determination from a young age, having left his family and home in Penang, Malaysia, at just 13 to enrol in the Singapore Sports School.

Later, bucking societal conventions and parental expectations, he made the decision to quit Republic Polytechnic where he was studying Sports and Leisure Management to focus on badminton full-time.

"Many people told me that I should continue with my education as a back-up plan. Even my parents were scared for me," he shares.

"But I can get a certificate any time. There's a time limit to sports and a shorter lifespan, so if you miss it, you miss it."

He says: "I knew I needed to choose one because if I were to continue listening to my parents and doing things by halves, in the end, if I don't succeed, I would blame someone. I'd rather take full responsibility for my actions and if there are any consequences, at least it's my decision. I just don't want to have any regrets."

That decision turned out to be pivotal.

"One way I looked at it was: When I don't have a back-up plan, I'll be more hardworking," he says. "Whenever I feel tired or lazy, I'm like, I have nothing to fall back on - I need to keep going."

The destination? If things go according to Loh's plans, Olympic glory and a spot atop the world rankings, his early exit at the recent All England Open but a learning step on that path. He also had to pull out of this week's Swiss Open after contracting Covid-19 last week.

While he works towards his goals, he is finding purpose in inspiring a younger generation and opening up conversations about badminton.

"When people tell me that I inspire them, I used to not know what they mean. Honestly, I was shocked," he admits.

"I'm just playing badminton and you're inspired by me? But as time goes by and I get more and more of that, I realise I can actually change someone's life to a certain extent. Like, maybe I can show people that sport is a meaningful thing to pursue, instead of just study, study, study.

"Or maybe I can show them that discipline is a really important part of life, that to achieve something, you need hard work and persevere. I'm happy I achieved something and that more people are now following and talking about badminton.

"I hope to open up the path in some way and that eventually, more people will take up sports and there will be more support for it."

When asked about the group of people who recently rallied to raise more than $350,000 for him after realising that his World Championships win did not come with a cash prize, Loh is sanguine - not for himself, but for what it means to the sporting community.

"It's a great thing - not for the monetary aspect of it, but for the awareness and support that people have for the sport," he says.

"I hope we can be a sporting nation. Even though we're so small, I don't think it's impossible. It's all about that personal hunger."

And he is ravenous.