Loh Kean Yew loses Kumamoto Masters q-final to Lakshya Sen, misses out on BWF World Tour Finals

SINGAPORE – A spot in the season-ending Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals may still be within Loh Kean Yew’s reach, but the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) has decided to pull him out of the Australian Open – the last tournament in the qualifying period – to let him focus on preparing for the SEA Games.

Believing that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, it is hoping that by doing so, the 28-year-old, who has two SEA Games silver medals, can become the first Singaporean to win the men’s singles title since Wong Shoon Keat triumphed on home soil in 1983.

SBA head of pathways and performance Vanessa Neo said: “After careful consideration, the SBA decided that Kean Yew will not take part in the Australian Open in order to focus fully on preparations for the SEA Games. We believe this approach will ensure optimal performance and readiness for the Games.”

On Nov 14, world No. 9 Loh lost 21-13, 21-17 to India’s 15th-ranked Lakshya Sen in the quarter-finals of the US$475,000 (S$618,400) Kumamoto Masters in Japan.

With 5,040 points added to his tally, Loh is expected to remain in 11th place in the BWF World Tour ranking, which is based on a player or pair’s best 14 results from its tournaments during the qualifying period from the Syed Modi International (Nov 26-Dec 1, 2024) to the Nov 18-23 Australian Open.

The season’s top eight singles and doubles players from this ranking will qualify for the US$3 million BWF World Tour Finals, which takes place in Hangzhou, China from Dec 17 to 21.

The top seven spots in the men’s singles ranking are currently respectively occupied by Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Li Shifeng, Chou Tien-chen, Anders Antonsen, Christo Popov, Jonatan Christie and Shi Yuqi.

Loh could still have leapfrogged China’s Weng Hongyang (eighth), Japan’s Kodai Naraoka (ninth) and Taiwanese Lin Chun-yi (10th) to pinch the eighth and final spot, but he is taking the SBA’s decision in his stride.

Loh told The Straits Times: “It’s disappointing not to be able to qualify for the World Tour Finals, but I’ll have to move on quickly and focus on working hard during the training camp to prepare for the SEA Games.”

Earlier, the SBA announced it will stage a Nov 24-Dec 4 centralised training camp in Singapore for the SEA Games players to train and spar with Taiwanese club coaches.

It also

set a target of four medals

at the Games’ Dec 7-14 badminton tournament, with Loh and top women’s singles player Yeo Jia Min gunning for the singles golds.

After Yeo made history as the

first Singaporean to qualify

for the prestigious World Tour Finals in 2021, Loh became the

first Singaporean man

to achieve the feat in 2022. Both players did not make it out of the group stage.

Loh has had a roller-coaster season, winning the Taipei Open in May and making at least the quarter-finals in nine out of 17 BWF World Tour events, but also suffering six first-round exits.

After his loss to Sen, he said: “He played well today and made few errors while returning everything I threw at him with quality.”

Against Loh, Sen produced a masterclass in consistency as he continues to be the scourge of Singapore players, having also beaten world No. 20 Jason Teh 21-13, 21-11 in the last 16 on Nov 13.

Sen now has a 7-3 head-to-head record against Loh, and leads Teh 4-0. He will face Japan’s world No. 13 Kenta Nishimoto in the last four, while world No. 10 Naraoka plays 32nd-ranked Wang Tzu-wei of Chinese Taipei in the other semi-final.

After overcoming early deficits against Loh, the 24-year-old imposed himself on the match, playing good defence to withstand his opponent’s attacks, before clinically finishing off well-constructed points with well-placed shots.

Loh put up a better fight in the second game to reduce the deficit from 9-15 to 17-18, but ran out of steam and belief after dumping a return into the net to end a 42-shot rally.

National singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun said both Loh and Teh “need to be more consistent in their stroke executions, be able to adapt tactically to the playing style of different opponents and improve their fitness and endurance”.

“Jason has cracked the top 20 this week, but the journey does not end here. Kean Yew is in the top 10, but he has to be winning more higher-tier titles,” added the South Korean.

“Among a strong field at the SEA Games, Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn is a formidable force that we have to be prepared for and we will all work hard at the upcoming training camp.”