Locals get tough draw at KFF Singapore Badminton Open
SINGAPORE – Having suffered three first-round exits in a row, Loh Kean Yew is banking on strong home support at the May 28-June 2 KFF Singapore Badminton Open to help him break out of his slump.
The world No. 12 begins his campaign at the Singapore Indoor Stadium against China’s 19th-ranked Lu Guangzu, whom he has beaten in their two previous encounters.
Loh, 26, reached the semi-finals of his home open in 2022 before losing to Indonesia’s eventual champion Anthony Ginting. In 2023, he suffered a surprise round-of-16 defeat by Frenchman Christo Popov.
He said: “I’m always looking forward to being surrounded by local supporters and competing on home ground. I feel so humbled and grateful to have them cheering me on. It’s a truly special feeling that always motivates me to give my best.”
Dealing with a right-shoulder injury and high expectations, Loh has had a roller-coaster season that has seen him reach the Thailand Masters final in February and win the Madrid Spain Masters the following month, but also lose 10 out of 25 matches.
After breaking his 833-day title drought since winning the 2021 world championship, Loh was knocked out in the first round of the Badminton Asia Championships, Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters, making it five times he has fallen at the first hurdle in 10 tournaments this season.
With only a maximum of six Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour competitions left for him to clinch seeding status for the July 26-Aug 11 Paris Olympics, he is keen to get back to winning form.
Should he get past Lu, he could meet Denmark’s world No. 4 Anders Antonsen in the round of 16 and China’s Asian Games champion and world No. 6 Li Shifeng in the quarter-finals. Potential semi-final opponents include Danish Olympic winner and world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and two-time defending champion Ginting, the world No. 7.
The highest-ranked player in the other half of the men’s singles draw is Shi Yuqi (No. 2), who won the Thomas Cup with China in May and made three other finals in five tournaments this season, losing in only one of them.
The plum first-round tie in this half sees Indonesia’s Asian champion and world No. 3 Jonatan Christie take on Chinese Taipei’s evergreen Chou Tien-chen, the world No. 13.
The Republic’s other representatives at the US$850,000 (S$1.15 million) BWF Super 750 event also face a tough fight to make it to the second round.
In the women’s singles, world No. 18 Yeo Jia Min will make her comeback from an Achilles injury against China’s world No. 8 He Bingjiao, who is unbeaten in their four past meetings.
Yeo said: “I’m managing my injury well at the moment and will be ready for Singapore Open. I will do my best to take this opportunity to record my first win against her.”
The winner of this match could meet Japan’s former top-ranked Nozomi Okuhara, the world No. 17, in the last 16 and then South Korea’s world champion and world No. 1 An Se-young in the quarter-finals.
In the mixed doubles, world No. 17 Terry Hee and Jessica Tan will hope to have benefitted from a six-week break after the Asia Championships as they take on South Korea’s world champions Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung, who have won their three previous encounters.
Hee said: “Unlike some players who are fighting for Olympic seeding positions, we don’t have the same concerns.
“So we decided it would be good to take the rare opportunity to skip the Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters, and have a four-week training block to work on our strength and conditioning, which tend to drop during a hectic season, and prepare for the upcoming Singapore Open, Indonesia Open and Australian Open.”
Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be the guest of honour and award presenter at the finals on June 2.
Tickets for the KFF Singapore Badminton Open are available on sistic.com.sg