Loh Kean Yew beats Christo Popov in China Open to avenge earlier defeat

SINGAPORE – Some sense of normalcy was restored when the Republic’s top badminton player Loh Kean Yew beat Frenchman Christo Popov 21-14, 21-17 in their China Open first-round match on Tuesday in Changzhou.

In so doing, the world No. 8 avenged

his shock Singapore Open round-of-16 defeat

in their first meeting in June when the then 35th-ranked Popov pulled off a stunning 21-10, 23-21 win.

Loh has another opportunity to exact revenge as he faces Anders Antonsen in the round of 16 after the 10th-ranked Dane beat India’s world No. 12 Lakshya Sen 23-21, 16-21, 21-9.

Antonsen has a 2-1 edge in their head-to-head record,

most recently beating the Singaporean 11-21, 21-11, 21-19

in the Korea Open final in July to continue his fine comeback from injury.

Loh, 26, said: “It was a good win today against an opponent who gave me a lot of problems at the Singapore Open.

“I was unwell before and during the World Championships, but had one week to rest, recover and prepare for the China Open. I’m feeling better and the atmosphere and hospitality here are also uplifting.

“Anders is a strong opponent. We had a competitive match in Korea and I’m looking forward to another good exchange with him on Thursday.”

The winner of this match could face Denmark’s world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals of the US$2 million (S$2.7 million) tournament, a Super 1000 event that offers the most ranking points on the Badminton World Federation World Tour as players try to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.

As such Loh, who has had a roller-coaster season that includes

another final in the Badminton Asia Championships

but also eight first- or second-round exits, was keen to put aside the disappointment of losing to India’s sixth-ranked H.S. Prannoy in the last 16 of the world championships in August.

Against Popov, he looked switched on and raced to a 12-5 lead, overcoming the world No. 29 with power and patience. Popov narrowed the gap to 17-14, but Loh smashed his way through the last four points to claim the opening game.

It was a similar tale in the second game as the 2021 world champion pulled away after his opponent caught up to 8-8, and never looked back. Two five-point runs to make it 13-8 and 20-13 ultimately sealed his victory in 47 minutes.

The competitiveness of the men’s singles field was evident in how world championships bronze medallist Prannoy lost 21-12, 13-21, 21-18 to Malaysia’s world No. 22 Ng Tze Yong in the biggest upset of the day.

However, Singapore’s top women’s singles player, world No. 22 Yeo Jia Min could not surmount the odds as she relinquished a 14-12 lead in the first game and an 18-16 advantage in the second to lose 21-17, 21-19 to China’s 11th-ranked Wang Zhiyi in 41 minutes.

National singles coach Kelvin Ho said: “Jia Min played pretty well overall, and her speed and shot quality have improved. She still needs to add consistency in her shot quality as there were a quite a number of errors that gave her opponent easy points.

“Meanwhile, Kean Yew did well to control the momentum, changing tactics and strategy in between points to have more variation. He was clear-minded and patient today, and his shot quality and consistency were good.

“Against Anders, he will need to continue to focus on the process and go for the right shots with the right mindset.”

Singapore’s 33rd-ranked mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan will open their campaign against China’s world No. 3 Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping on Wednesday.