Singapore’s Foo Kon Fai, Victor Sim crowned badminton senior world champions
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Victor Sim (left) with his wife Natalie Ong, and Foo Kon Fai (right) with his wife Bessie Ong.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF VICTOR SIM
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SINGAPORE – For two decades, Singapore’s athletes did not manage to strike gold at the Badminton World Federation World Senior Championships – their best performance was in 2007 when Kamaluddin Lee won a 55+ men’s singles bronze.
The title drought ended on Sunday in style – and lobs of love – as sexagenarians Foo Kon Fai and Victor Sim created history by becoming world champions in their respective events in Jeonju, South Korea.
They are also now part of an exclusive group of Singaporean badminton world champions who include 2021 men’s singles winner Loh Kean Yew and 2017 BWF Para-Badminton World Championships men’s doubles winner Tay Wei Ming, who won his title with Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho.
Despite his age, the sprightly Foo, 66, competed in the 60+ men’s doubles, 65+ men’s singles and mixed doubles. After winning a bronze with Bessie Ong, his wife of 42 years, he claimed the men’s singles gold with a steady display of decisive strokes and control, defeating Indonesia’s Oetomo Maslim 21-8, 21-14.
The part-time badminton coach, who was part of the national reserve team in the 1970s, told The Straits Times: “I’m very happy to become Singapore’s first senior badminton world champion, but this was an unexpected gold as I usually don’t play in the singles and would focus more on the doubles.
“Playing three events was very tough as we had to play some former internationals along the way. My legs were very tired and it felt like I was going to cramp. Thankfully, I have my wife to help me with massages.”
After breezing past opponents from Malaysia, Japan, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in the earlier rounds, Foo beat his most formidable foe – 67-year-old Malaysian Ong Then Lin – 21-23, 21-9, 21-19 in the semi-finals.
Foo, who plays badminton for two hours on Mondays and Wednesdays and swims twice a week, added: “He is a regular in the senior circuit and very experienced, so I just tried to keep up with him and I was very relieved when he let the shuttlecock land in for the final point.
“I was also mentally prepared for a tough final because I heard the Indonesian is a runner who is fit, but I kept calm by taking deep breaths while he seemed to lose focus and kept committing unforced errors.”
Winning gold in his second worlds contest – and a first with his wife – has been “a very meaningful outing for us”, he added.
The power of love also proved a winning formula for 68-year-old Sim, who teamed up with Then Ling to win the 65+ men’s doubles final after beating Chinese Taipei’s Yang Cheng-tsung and Yang Chung-shun 21-14, 21-9.
Both players have combined several times since the 2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, and their chemistry earned them wins against opponents from Malaysia, Germany, South Korea, and top seeds Tariq Farooq of Austria and Denmark’s Karsten Meier.
Sim’s 65-year-old wife Natalie Ong, who is also his mixed doubles partner and coach, kept their spirits high by cheering them on.
“I feel like I’m on top of the world and on cloud nine,” said the Singapore Badminton Association management committee member and former army major.
“My wife and I celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary here on Thursday, so this gold medal is also my gift to her. It’s a huge boost to always have her with me for overseas competitions.”
Sim was also the team manager of the 10 players at the meet. He added: “It can be stressful having to do the administrative work and coordination, shuttling to and fro for meetings, and then switching to game mode for my matches, but it’s all worth it.
“We hope our achievements and passion can inspire more Singaporeans to participate in such masters and senior championships.”
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi won her fifth women’s singles title in her eighth final of the year at the Hong Kong Open, as the world No. 2 beat China’s 17th-ranked Zhang Yiman 21-18, 21-15.
In the men’s singles, Indonesia’s world No. 6 and Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie endured string breaks in four of his rackets to beat Japan’s 15th-ranked Kenta Nishimoto 12-21, 22-20, 21-18 to claim the title.
