Loh Kean Yew out of Indonesia Masters after q-final defeat by Anthony Ginting

SINGAPORE – Despite being knocked out of the Indonesia Masters following a 21-17, 21-19 defeat in the quarter-finals by Anthony Ginting on Jan 26, Loh Kean Yew had a match to remember as he pushed the world No. 4 all the way in a thrilling 53-minute encounter.

Going into the last eight of the Super 500 tournament, the Indonesian Olympic bronze medallist held a 5-2 lead in their head-to-head record at BWF World Tour events. While he extended his winning run against world No. 12 Loh, this was the closest that the Singaporean had come to beating Ginting in their last six encounters.

Their last meeting at the China Masters in November 2023 ended 21-15, 21-19 to Ginting, while their previous meeting in April was won 21-12, 21-8 by Ginting.

“I feel like I played not bad, quite good but obviously, there’s only one winner and he played quite a good game too, so kudos to him for playing well,” said Loh, who had missed the Jan 16-21 India Open as he was recovering from an illness.

“He played very well, it’s not easy playing with a home crowd and he managed to turn that into motivation, so very well done.”

Backed by a partisan crowd at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Ginting was quickest off the blocks and raced to a 10-6 lead. Loh fought back to narrow the gap by claiming three consecutive points, but Ginting entered the interval 11-9 up.

Loh turned things around when they returned to the court as he went 15-13 up to hold the advantage for a brief period, before a couple of unforced errors set Ginting up to reclaim the lead.

The pulsating encounter reached a climax with both players displaying great athleticism in a 42-shot rally that had the crowd in a frenzy, but Ginting eventually won the point to make it 19-16, before going on to seal the opening game.

The second game started similarly with Ginting leading, but Loh’s defence and recovery kept the 27-year-old’s attack at bay as he drew level at 4-4.

Ginting pulled ahead to lead 11-6 at the interval, but once again Loh clawed his way back to even the scores at 13-13.

It was neck-and-neck after that and the duo rounded up the match with another nail-biting exchange that Ginting ended with a backhand kill as both he and Loh collapsed to the ground.

Loh was also encouraged by the form he showed in earlier matches. The 26-year-old had beaten world No. 8 H.S. Prannoy 21-18, 19-21, 21-10 in the round of 32 before overcoming Su Li-yang of Chinese Taipei 21-11, 21-16 to set up the meeting with Ginting.

He added: “Every match, every win is a breakthrough because I haven’t really been myself and I’m glad that I found some ways and I hope that I’m able to keep going and hopefully it becomes better.”

National singles head coach Kelvin Ho praised Loh’s performance in Indonesia, saying: “He showed great fighting spirit and motivation throughout this tournament.

“At times when he was uncomfortable, he overcame it with his strength and good court coverage. Overall he played with consistency, he was more focused and ready in terms of fewer unforced errors and patience.”

Loh’s next competition is the Thailand Masters, which begins on Jan 30. He will face Chinese Taipei’s Huang Yu-kai in the last 32.

Ginting, meanwhile, will meet Canada’s Brian Yang in the Indonesia Masters semi-finals on Jan 27. The winner will face either Thailand’s world No. 9 Kunlavut Vitidsarn or seventh-ranked Anders Antonsen of Denmark in the final a day later.