Loh is world champion
National shuttler beats India's world No. 14 to seal stunning victory in straight games in Spain
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History took 43 hectic minutes, two games and 78 points. At the end of it, unseeded national shuttler Loh Kean Yew stunned the badminton world by becoming the first Singaporean to win the World Championships.
Yesterday, the world No. 22 clinched the biggest win of his career by upsetting India's world No. 14 Srikanth Kidambi 21-15, 22-20 in the final in Huelva, Spain.
On the final point, when a push to the back court landed in, Loh sank to his knees but ascended to the rank of sporting legend.
In a single, inspired week, he has crafted one of the greatest moments in this nation's sporting folklore. And few would know he did it on one good ankle.
The 24-year-old rolled his right ankle while trying to save a shuttle in last Friday's quarter-final win over India's H.S. Prannoy and was wheelchair-bound after beating Denmark's Anders Antonsen in the semi-final on Saturday.
He said: "I thought I was finished. It hurt like hell and I couldn't walk. But I told myself to push through the pain and go all out in the final, and coped with ice and some treatment, and it paid off.
"This feels like a dream, and now it's a dream come true. I grew up watching Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei playing such big finals and now I'm here as the world champion. It's unbelievable.
"I'm honoured to deliver this first gold for Singapore. I know many Singaporeans have been staying up to follow my progress, and I want to thank everyone for their support and for being a huge motivation."
Since the competition's inception in 1977, only four countries - China, Indonesia, Denmark and Japan - have won gold in the men's singles, and now the Republic has one of its own.
Loh's breakthrough will rank among Singapore's greatest sporting feats, which include swimmer Joseph Schooling's 100m butterfly gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, as well as Feng Tianwei, Wang Yuegu, Sun Beibei, Li Jiawei and Yu Mengyu's "Miracle in Moscow", when they upset mighty China to win the World Team Table Tennis Championships in 2010.
Singapore President Halimah Yacob led the plaudits as she congratulated Loh in a Facebook post, writing: "Thank you for flying the Singapore flag high, by dint of sheer hard work and perseverance. We are all proud of you."
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said: "Well done, Kean Yew! You do Singapore proud. Looking forward to your next success!"