Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew (above) thrilled home fans on the first day of the Karim Family Foundation (KFF) Singapore Badminton Open presented by JK Technology, triumphing over China’s Lu Guang Zu in an intense three-game showdown.
Despite a nail-biting first game loss to Lu (25-27), where Loh had two game points, he staged a brilliant comeback. After a tight start in the second game with the scores locked at 4-4, Loh won five consecutive points and never relinquished the lead to take the second game 21-15.
The 27-year-old put on a ruthless display in the final game, racing to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. It was an impressive performance by Loh, who held Lu to just 5 points in the final game, taking the victory with a score of 25-17, 21-15, 21-5 after 63 minutes.
Reflecting on his victory on home soil, Loh said: “It means even more [to win at home and] to be able to advance to more rounds. I hope to be able to play in front of the home crowd more. So hopefully, I’ll be able to do well and keep progressing.”
Loh’s next challenge will be last year’s finalist Anders Antonesen, who defeated his fellow countryman Rasmus Gemke 21-17, 21-10.
Unfortunately, it was the end of the road for Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min, along with doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan.
Yeo put up a spirited performance against world No. 8 He Bing Jiao despite the odds being stacked against her, with the Singaporean yet to win against He in the past five meetings. After losing the first 12-21, Yeo rallied back to edge the second game (23-21). However, He proved too strong and captured the final game 21-16 to take the victory.
Hee and Tan, too, had a challenging first-round draw, having been matched against world champions Seo Seung Jae and Chae Yu Jung. The local pair never quite found their footing in the match, losing to the South Koreans in straight games (14-21, 13-21) in 32 minutes.
Top Men’s Doubles Pair Knocked Out
Spectators in the Singapore Indoor Stadium witnessed the first major upset of the KFF Singapore Badminton Open when Danish pair Daniel Lundgaard and Mads Vestergaard knocked out the world No. 1 Indian duo Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty in straight sets, winning 22-20, 21-18.
Following their remarkable win, Vestergaard said ecstatically: “I think a lot of things went right. We had a very solid game plan with our coach and I think we followed it very well. We were very strict about all the things that we talked about such as the preparations and that worked out really well.”
The Danish pair will face China’s He Ji Ting and Ren Xiang Yu in the next round.
Defending Champions Cruise Through
Four of the defending champions of the KFF Singapore Badminton Open showcased their dominance with straight-game victories, securing their spots in the second round.
An Se Young (above), the world No. 1 in women’s singles, overpowered Myanmar’s Thet Htar Thuzar 21-14, 21-10 in just 35 minutes. She will next face Wen Chi Hsu from Chinese Taipei, who she competed against earlier this month at the Thomas and Uber Cup.
In women’s doubles, the world No. 1 pair Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan battled past Denmark’s Julie Finne-Ipsen and Mai Surrow 21-17, 22-20. They will meet France’s Margot Lambert and Anne Tran in their next match.
Japanese men’s doubles pair Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi (below) overcame their compatriots Kenya Mitsuhashi and Hiroki Okamura 21-18, 21-17. Their next opponents in the round of 16 are China’s Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi.
Mixed doubles Danish pair Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje, ranked 10th in the world, defeated South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun 21-19, 21-15 in 42 minutes. They will face Malaysia’s Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei in the next round.
Highlight matches for the second day include:
* Chou Tien Chen (TPE) vs Jonatan Christie (INA)
* Anthony Ginting (INA) vs Lee Zii Jia (MAS)
* Viktor Axelsen (DEN) vs Lakshya Sen (IND)
Organised by the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), the KFF Singapore Badminton Open is part of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 750 series. The tournament features the top 15 singles players and top 10 doubles pairs, all vying for prestigious titles and a share of the US$850,000 prize money.
