Loh Kean Yew advances in world championships; Yeo Jia Min and mixed doubles pair out

SINGAPORE – Local badminton star Loh Kean Yew’s winning momentum continued on Aug 27 after a straight-sets victory saw him book a place in the last 16 of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships.

At the Adidas Arena in Paris, the world No. 9 dismantled Finland’s 53rd-ranked Kalle Koljonen 21-14, 21-14 in 39 minutes.

He will face Japan’s eighth-ranked Kodai Naraoka on Aug 28 for a place in the quarter-finals, after the 24-year-old saw off Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen 21-18, 21-14.

Loh, the 2021 world champion, was tied at 13-13 with Koljonen in the first game before springing clear.

There was a similar pattern in the second game, with the score at 8-8 before Loh upped the ante.

After the victory, the Singaporean said he was glad to have won a tough match.

“I’ve played Kalle and trained with him a few times, so it was quite tricky to know each other pretty well,” he said.

“I had a slow start again today but I’m glad that I managed to catch up in the end.

“I have to adapt quicker to the situation and hopefully, next round will be better.”

Loh had also overcome a sluggish start in his opening match on Aug 25 to beat 234th-ranked Mauritian Julien Paul 21-15, 21-12.

He has been working hard to regain his winning touch after sitting out the last few tournaments.

A bacterial infection after a training camp in Taipei had left him confined to his bed, causing him to miss the Japan and China Opens in July.

The 28-year-old will be buoyed by his dominant head-to-head record against his next opponent, having won all six of his previous meetings with Naraoka, the most recent of which came at the India Open in January.

But national singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun hopes Loh can get off to a quicker start.

The South Korean said: “At the start of each set, Kean Yew tends to take a while to get into the groove. It would not be easy to catch up against higher-ranked opponents.

“I would like him to have more explosive starts in the matches ahead to capitalise on the momentum.”

While Loh moves on, compatriot Yeo Jia Min bowed out after going down 21-17, 22-20 to Thailand’s 18th-ranked Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who will meet compatriot and world No. 6 Pornpawee Chochuwong in the round of 16.

Yeo, who was making a comeback after missing the recent higher-tier events of the Asian swing with an Achilles injury, felt that her condition was not ideal.

The world No. 13 said: “My condition is not the same as before yet, but I didn’t expect to feel this much drop in speed today.

“To be honest, it was extremely frustrating for me on court.”

She added that Busanan did not play very differently from their recent meeting at the KFF Singapore Badminton Open in May, when Yeo won in straight games.

But the 29-year-old Thai gained the upper hand this time around as Yeo was moving slower.

“It was a frustrating performance for me,” added the 26-year-old Singaporean. “I knew what I needed to do, but couldn’t execute it today.

“Moving forward, I will keep working to improve my physical condition and come back stronger.”

Mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jin Yujia also bowed out, after losing 21-18, 21-12 in the round of 32 to third seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran of Thailand.

National doubles head coach Paulus Firman said there are lessons from this defeat for the Singaporean pair.

“Consistency, discipline in game plan, not making mistakes easily, (they need to) focus and maintain momentum when they are up,” said Firman.

“Yujia has a lot to improve, such as her anticipation and reading the opponent’s game, the quality of her shots and the focus of each shot in a long rally.

“Terry needs to improve on his control of shots in a fast-paced game, not to get the direction and type of shot wrong. His shot-making must be more consistent too.”

Also in the mixed doubles, Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje caused an upset as they sent top seeds Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping of China crashing out with a comeback 14-21, 21-13, 21-18 win.

The world No. 194 pair, who were once ranked as high as No. 8, had reunited only this month after Christiansen, 31, completed a one-year ban for errors made in updating his whereabouts with Denmark’s anti-doping body.

They will hope to continue their winning run when they meet another Chinese pair, 12th-ranked Cheng Xing and Zhang Chi, in the round of 16.