Loh Kean Yew beats home favourite Shi Yuqi to make second round at China Masters
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Singapore's Loh Kean Yew in action at the World Championships against Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Loh Kean Yew defeated world No. 6 Shi Yuqi in the first round of the China Masters, showing strong form despite recent setbacks and injury.
- Loh will face another Chinese player Weng Hongyang in the last 16, aiming to advance further after missing the quarter-finals in his last four tournaments.
- South Korea's An Se-young dominated her first-round match, continuing her excellent performance as world No. 1 and reigning world champion in the women's singles event.
AI generated
SINGAPORE – Despite falling out of the world’s top 10 in the badminton men’s singles and bowing out of the recent world championships in the round of 16, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew responded well by upsetting sixth-ranked Shi Yuqi in the first round of the China Masters on Sept 1.
The 29-year-old cruised past the home favourite 21-11, 21-10 to qualify for the last 16 at the US$1.25 million (S$1.6 million) tournament.
On Sept 3, he will face another Chinese player, world No. 18 Weng Hongyang, who beat Singapore’s 31st-ranked Jason Teh 21-13, 21-12.
Loh told The Straits Times: “It’s never easy playing against a home player with the home crowd backing him, but I prepared myself to the fullest, tried my best to focus, and gave it my all during the match.”
At the world championships in August, he suffered a narrow 22-20, 21-18 defeat in the round of 16 by Canada’s seventh-ranked Victor Lai, which meant he had not made it past the last 16 in four tournaments since reaching the final at the KFF Singapore Badminton Open in May.
In between, he retired in the first round of the Indonesia Open in June after he came down with an abdominal injury.
But in the battle between two former world champions at the Shenzhen Arena, the world No. 14 showed no sign of his recent ailment.
Pulling away from a 4-4 tie, 2021 world champion Loh was able to unleash a torrent of smashes, including several body shots, to win the opening game at a canter and silence the partisan crowd.
The 30-year-old Chinese player had no answer to his rival’s speed as he found himself in a 7-0 hole which he was unable to get out of, losing the match in 30 minutes.
Shi had started the year well, placing second at the Malaysia Open in January before winning the Asia Championships in April and the Thomas Cup with China in May. But his form started dipping with back-to-back second-round exits at the KFF Singapore Open and Indonesia Open.
In his Japan Open quarter-final loss to second-ranked Frenchman Christo Popov, he was overheard telling his coach that he could not keep up with his opponent.
It was a similar story in his shock first-round defeat by India’s world No. 20 Ayush Shetty at the world championships, and in his latest loss to Loh, which levelled their head-to-head record at 4-4.
In the China Masters women’s singles competition, South Korea’s world No. 1 and world champion An Se-young continued her rich vein of form by romping to a 21-11, 21-3 win over 17th-ranked Taiwanese Lin Hsiang-ti.
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