S’pore’s Loh Kean Yew to miss SEA Games singles due to Sudirman Cup

SINGAPORE – The Republic’s wait for a first SEA Games badminton men’s singles gold since 1983 will most likely have to go on as its big guns such as world No. 8 Loh Kean Yew will not feature in the individual events in Cambodia.

Instead, they will play in the men and women’s team events from May 8 to 11 before jetting off to Suzhou, China for the May 14-21 Sudirman Cup, a mixed team tournament that features the world’s top badminton nations.

These players include Tokyo 2020 Olympian and women’s singles world No. 31 Yeo Jia Min, women’s doubles world No. 23 duo Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong, as well as mixed doubles world No. 24 pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan.

In their place, the Singapore Badminton Association will field younger players for the SEA Games individual events from May 12 to 16.

These include Joel Koh, Marcus Lau (men’s singles), Insyirah Khan, Megan Lee (women’s singles), former junior men’s doubles world No. 1s Johann Prajogo and Nge Joo Jie, and Elsa Lai and Heng Xiao En (women’s doubles).

In a region stacked with top talents, Singapore has won only three out of 204 badminton golds at the SEA Games, through Wong Shoon Keat (men’s singles, 1983), the women’s team in 2003, and Fu Mingtian (women’s singles, 2011).

At the delayed Hanoi Games in 2022, the national players claimed one silver and five bronzes, with Loh reaching the men’s singles final for the second Games running.

SBA technical director Martin Andrew explained that the decision was made based on their prioritisation of Olympic qualification.

The Race to Paris rankings lists, which are separate from the world rankings, will be used to award quota places in the five events at the Olympics. Each list will be based on results achieved from May 1, 2023 to April 28, 2024.

Andrew said: “The Sudirman Cup is one of the world’s most prestigious badminton events involving many of the top nations. More importantly, it is the first event in this window to offer Paris Ranking Lists points, while the SEA Games are not part of the process.

“We are in Group A with defending champions China, European powerhouses Denmark and top African side Egypt, so it is a tough draw but we will be looking to challenge them.

“On the other hand, the team we are sending to the SEA Games will be a blend of experience and youth. However, we are hopeful that our players can medal in both the individual and team events.”

Loh, the 2021 world champion who won the SEA Games men’s singles silver in 2019 and 2022, understood the decision.

The 25-year-old, who also played at Tokyo 2020, said: “Both tournaments are important. The Sudirman Cup is important to optimise our world ranking points as we try to qualify for the Olympics, while this decision also allows junior players to have the opportunity and exposure to compete against other South-east Asian players.”

Women’s singles world No. 369 Lee is looking to spring a surprise. She added: “I feel honoured to be able to represent Singapore for the second time in the SEA Games. I hope to be able to play my best and challenge the top players, and also contribute to the success of our team.”