Loh Kean Yew through to Badminton Asia Championships quarter-finals
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Loh Kean Yew is Singapore's sole representative left in the Badminton Asia Championships after progressing to the quarter-finals of the continental event.
ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG
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SINGAPORE – Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew advanced to the men’s singles quarter-finals at the Badminton Asia Championships after beating Taiwanese Lee Chia-hao 21-15, 21-17 in the round of 16 on April 10.
At the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, world No. 17 Loh got off to a strong start, racing to a 5-2 lead in the first game before reeling off six consecutive points to head into the interval with an 11-2 advantage.
Although 2025 All England finalist and world No. 14 Lee narrowed the deficit, Loh maintained control and comfortably closed out the first game.
The second game was a tighter affair. Loh opened with a 5-1 lead, but Lee fought back to level the score at 6-6 and briefly pulled ahead at 8-6.
However, the Singaporean regained momentum to reclaim the lead and secure victory in 42 minutes, extending his head-to-head record against Lee to 3-0.
National singles head coach Kim Ji-Hyun said: “Kean Yew has played Lee Chia-hao before, and both of them have similar playing styles.
“Kean Yew has a perfect winning record against Lee and hence went into the match more confident. Lee seemed to be nervous in the first game and made too many mistakes.
“The momentum was in Kean Yew’s favour and even with Lee surging forward in the second game, Kean Yew was able to keep calm to capture the last few points to win the match.”
Loh, 27, will face China’s top-ranked Shi Yuqi next on April 11, after the latter booked his spot in the last eight with a 21-16, 21-12 victory over Japan’s Yushi Tanaka.
Thomas Cup 2024 men’s team champion Shi has the superior winning record against Loh – four out of six encounters – with their most recent meeting at the All England Open, where Loh was eliminated by the eventual champion in the quarter-finals.
The last time Loh, Singapore’s only representative left in the continental competition, defeated Shi was in the quarter-finals of the 2023 French Open.
The Republic’s top women’s singles player Yeo Jia Min (No. 12) withdrew from her round of 32 clash against South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun on April 9 after injuring her calf muscle during training in Ningbo, while 99th-ranked Jaslyn Hooi finished second in her qualifying group and did not advance to the main draw.
Singapore’s other representatives all exited in the round of 32. Mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jin Yujia were knocked out by Chinese Taipei’s Lu Ming-che and Hung En-tzu, who won 12-21, 21-16, 21-16.
Jin also partnered Heng Xiao En in the women’s doubles, where they lost 21-15, 21-13 to Thailand’s Laksika Kanlaha and Phataimas Muenwong.
Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo were beaten 21-17, 21-19 by Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif and Yap Roy King in the men’s doubles, while Jason Teh was also eliminated in the men’s singles after a 14-21, 19-21 loss to Chinese Taipei’s Chu Yu-jen.
