Loh Kean Yew overcomes fatigue to survive Thailand Open q-final against Rasmus Gemke

SINGAPORE – Despite playing his eighth match in 10 days, Singapore badminton star Loh Kean Yew eventually rose to the occasion to beat Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke 15-21, 21-12, 21-11 in their men’s singles quarter-final at the US$475,000 (S$616,500) Thailand Open on May 16.

By reaching the May 17 semi-final against Thailand’s world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the 27-year-old has gained enough points to make it back to the top 10 in the world ranking.

He has leapfrogged compatriot Jason Teh and Taiwanese Lin Chun-yi to the top in the race to the year-end Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals.

But if he is to reach his second final in two weeks, he will have to step up a few gears at Bangkok’s Nimibutr Stadium against world champion and home favourite Kunlavut, who has an overwhelming 7-1 lead in their head-to-head record.

The 24-year-old Thai had dispatched Japan’s world No. 12 Kenta Nishimoto 21-16, 21-18 in their quarter-final.

The other men’s semi-final at the Super 500 event will pit Denmark’s world No. 3 Anders Antonsen against China’s 14th-ranked Lu Guangzu.

Loh told The Straits Times: “I just kept focusing on each point and will continue to try my best in all my matches. It’s only going to get harder from here because everyone is strong in their own ways, and I’ll have to prepare myself to the fullest.

“There’s still many tournaments till the World Tour Finals... but of course I hope I can qualify for it at the end of the year.”

Recovery will be key as the world No. 11 looked sluggish in comparison to his comprehensive 21-15, 21-6 over Ireland’s 34th-ranked Nhat Nguyen in the last 16 the previous day.

Loh, who had a slow start, never led against 29th-ranked Gemke in the opening game as he preferred to engage in long rallies while his opponent found his range with his smashes and drop shots to take the first game.

The Singaporean, who won the Super 300 Taipei Open on May 11, continued his patient approach, and it worked better with more precise shots in the second game, particularly when he wrong-footed Gemke in a 56-shot rally to lead 10-7.

At 12-7, the match was suspended for four minutes after Loh had ripped the court mat when he slid across to follow Gemke’s shot that had gone wide. While the surface was being repaired, the players had to continue without being able to utilise the HawkEye challenge.

As the match went to a decider, it was the Dane who started to fizzle out as he also had to contend with the exertions of having required three games to beat Teh and Taiwanese Chou Tien-chen in the earlier rounds.

Gemke tried to stay in the contest and got as close as 9-10, but Loh was unstoppable once he upped his tempo and unleashed his variety of smashes and disguised drops.

He won 11 of the next 13 points to seal his fourth semi-final of the season after the Taipei Open, Badminton Asia Championships (joint-third) and German Open (second).

While national singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun acknowledged Loh’s exhaustion, she noted that overseas training camps in Thailand and China have helped improved her players’ conditions.

She said: “I saw that our singles players were not fit enough during the Europe leg of the tournaments earlier this year, so I designed a training system with overseas camps to push them harder... Their physical condition has significantly improved. It is still a long way to go with many more key tournaments on Tour this year.

“For the semi-final, a lot of mental preparation is required. We are working towards success in the world championships and SEA Games, so this is just a part of the journey to our longer-term goals.”

In the women’s singles, compatriot and world No. 12 Yeo Jia Min missed her chance to join Loh in the semi-finals after she stumbled to a 19-21, 21-15, 21-9 loss to Thailand’s top seed and world No. 6 Pornpawee Chochuwong in the later match.

“Unfortunately, there were too many unforced errors and a lack of variation in Jia Min’s selection of shots today. We will have to work harder on these areas for the upcoming tournaments,” said Kim, adding that Yeo will skip next week’s Malaysia Masters to focus on getting full match fitness for the May 27-June 1 KFF Singapore Open and June 3-8 Indonesia Open.

Pornpawee will meet compatriot and world No. 9 Supanida Katethong on May 17 for a place in the Thailand Open final, with Japan’s world No. 7 Tomoka Miyazaki taking on China’s eighth-ranked Chen Yufei in the other semi-final.