SINGAPORE – Fresh off his triumph at the Madrid Spain Masters, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew was gunning for a breakthrough at the Badminton Asia Championships after losing the 2023 final.
But the world No. 10 crashed out in the first round of the men’s singles on April 10, losing 18-21, 21-18, 21-17 to Japan’s 12th-ranked Kenta Nishimoto at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre.
The defeat came 10 days after the 26-year-old defeated Frenchman Toma Junior Popov in Madrid to end his 833-day title drought. This is Loh’s third first-round exit in what has been an inconsistent 2024 season, where he also reached two quarter-finals and one other final – at the Thailand Masters.
He told The Straits Times: “I feel that I’ve done better than before, but there’s still room for improvement.”
Heading into the match, Nishimoto had a superior 3-0 head-to-head record, including a win in straight games at the Asia Team Championships in February.
Loh started the match on the front foot, remaining patient despite the slow tempo. While Nishimoto cut the Singaporean’s five-point lead to 18-17, he hung on to take the first game.
Again in the second game he led 10-8 but the turning point came when consecutive mistakes saw Nishimoto clinch the next five points. The Japanese gained momentum and never looked back to level the score at 1-1.
The deciding game saw Nishimoto racing to a 6-2 lead, and Loh struggled as his opponent clinically finished off the game to claim victory 21-17.
Nishimoto will take on Chinese top seed Shi Yuqi next after the latter defeated India’s Lakshya Sen 21-19, 21-15.
Noting that there were still “plenty of positives”, national singles coach Kelvin Ho said: “He faced some negative circumstances during the match which formed more challenges for him. The hall is quite slow to play which doesn’t suit his style, so he has to change. Despite these challenges, he showed good fighting spirit and high motivation throughout. We’ve been working on varying his gameplay and strategy. He worked well on this during the match and it is something that will serve him well in future games. Maintaining focus and staying mentally present throughout the game will be critical for his performances.”
There was some cheer in the Singapore camp, as 19th-ranked mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan claimed a 21-19, 21-9 win over Chinese Taipei’s world No. 35 Chang Ko-chi and Lee Chih-chen in 37 minutes.
The Singaporean pair had a nervy start as Hee’s trademark smashes failed to deliver but they won the first game and found their groove in the next one, taking a 5-1 lead. Chang and Lee gradually grew frustrated and made unforced errors, allowing the Singaporeans to win comfortably in the end.
They will face a daunting challenge in the round of 16 in the form of China’s world No. 1 Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong. “We are definitely the underdogs tomorrow,” Hee, 28, said. “However, we’re just going to give everything we have and try to give them a hard time.”
National doubles coach Paulus Firman said the win restored the pair’s self-confidence after two straight first-round exits, and wants them to “play as though there’s nothing to lose” against the Chinese pair.
Singapore’s world No. 19 Yeo Jia Min clinched a spot in the women’s singles round of 16 via walkover after Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand withdrew. She will face China’s ninth-ranked Wang Zhiyi, who has won all three of their encounters so far.
