Singapore’s badminton players face rough draws in Asian Games’ individual events

HANGZHOU – After falling to Japan at the first hurdle of the men’s team competition last week, Singapore’s badminton players did not enjoy much luck again with Sunday’s draw for the individual events, with either a tough opening match or illustrious opponents lying in wait early on.

World No. 9 Loh Kean Yew, who received a first-round bye, will face Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the round of 32 on Tuesday.

The 19th-ranked Malaysian leads 2-1 in their head-to-head record, so Loh cannot afford to be distracted by possible matches against Thailand’s 36th-ranked Kantaphon Wangcharoen and Japan’s world No. 3 Kodai Naraoka – both of whom he is unbeaten against – for a coveted Asian Games medal.

After a training session at the Binjiang Gymnasium on Sunday, the 2021 world champion and Asian Games debutant told The Straits Times: “Pressure can be good or bad, it can motivate you or make you crack. Everyone is trying to be as consistent as they can but, most times, it really depends on how you feel on that day...

“I feel my game is at a higher level than before, but sometimes I can be not so clear-headed or quick when I try to vary my game play... I still have a long way to go.”

The Republic’s other men’s singles representative, 83rd-ranked Jason Teh, seems to have a smoother route to the round of 16 with matches against unheralded opponents such as Macau’s Pui Chi Chon, but he is then projected to meet Indonesia’s world No. 2 Anthony Ginting.

In the women’s singles, world No. 22 Yeo Jia Min, who was also given a first-round bye, should beat Kazakhstan’s 215th-ranked Kamila Smagulova, but will then face China’s world No. 3 Chen Yufei in the round of 16. Yeo, who has just recovered from a heavy bout of influenza, said the Tokyo Olympic champion “will be under more pressure to beat me at home” and hopes that can work to her advantage.

“Overall, I’m more clear on my style and abilities now. I just need to be more consistent at crucial points, to close out games when I am leading towards the end of the games against strong opponents,” Yeo added.

In the men’s doubles, 82nd-ranked Loh Kean Hean and Andy Kwek are up against South Korea’s world No. 15 Choi Sol-gyu and Kim Won-ho in the round of 32, while 106th-ranked Nge Joo Jie and Johann Prajogo have a more navigable path to the quarter-finals with matches against Cambodia’s Sok Rikreay and Vannthoun Vath and then a Nepal or Maldives pair.

In the women’s doubles, 28th-ranked Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong will aim to beat Malaysia’s world No. 9 Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan for the first time in three tries, while it is another Causeway derby in the mixed doubles as 90th-ranked Kwek and Wong face world No. 9 Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei.

World No. 29 mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan should overcome Nepal’s Jivan Acharya and Nita Lamsal, but they will need to beat potential opponents in Hong Kong’s world No. 20 Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet, and then Japan’s world No. 2 Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino for a historic medal.

Pointing to South Korea’s

3-0 win over China for the women’s team gold,

Singapore Badminton Association technical director Martin Andrew said: “At every Games, there will be some scope for upsets, and we have to put ourselves in a position to do that.

“It is a stacked field and we have some rough draws, but our underlying principle for the players is to perform for themselves and Singapore, that they can look at themselves in the mirror and say they gave their best.”