Loh Heng Chew, one of Singapore’s first Asian table tennis champions, dies at age 97

SINGAPORE – A “true ambassador and lover of table tennis”, former national coach and player Loh Heng Chew died at home on March 30. He was 97 and leaves behind two sons, a daughter, and four grandchildren.

Born in 1929 to parents who were plantation farmers and sold vegetables at the market, Loh picked up the sport, with influence from his grandfather, after World War II ended in 1945.

As he could not afford to buy a paddle, he would play with DIY bats made out of wooden boards, according to a Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) video celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2021.

In the video, he shared that he became the national second division champion in 1949.

But his crowning moment came five years later, when he teamed up with Poon Weng Hoe to become Singapore’s first winners at the Asian Table Tennis Championships, after they beat South Vietnam’s defending champions Mai Van Hoa and Tran Canh Duoc in 1954 on home soil.

It would take Singapore another 57 years to claim a second Asian men’s doubles title – when China-born pair Gao Ning and Yang Zi beat South Korea’s Jeoung Young-sik and Kim Min-seok in the 2011 final.

The local-born duo of Koen Pang and Izaac Quek would become just the third Singaporean pair to reach the men’s doubles final at the Asian championships in 2024, when they lost to South Korea’s Lim Jong-hoon and An Jae-hyun.

The STTA sent its condolences and hailed Loh as “the grandmaster of table tennis who shone for Singapore in the 50s and 60s”.

STTA technical director Loy Soo Han was just seven when he began training under Loh’s tutelage in the 1970s.

A four-time SEA Games medallist, Loy was deeply impressed by Loh’s dedication and fighting spirit, telling The Straits Times: “Mr Loh would be at the Bras Basah Community Centre almost every day and I would go learn from him three to four times a week.

“Even though he was in his 40s then, he was still very passionate about playing table tennis and would go all out to retrieve every shot, even if it meant falling over.

“Though he was a serious coach, he was also a caring one as he coached my younger brother Soo Chew and I until we made the national youth team.

“He epitomised a healthy lifestyle as he continued playing table tennis until he was in his 70s. Later on, after experiencing knee pain, he remained active through walking and swimming. But he will be remembered as a true ambassador and lover of table tennis, and he will be dearly missed.”