Double joy for Loh brothers at Badminton World Championships
UPDATE: Commonwealth Games gold medallists Terry Hee and Jessica Tan advanced into the round of 16 at the Badminton World Championships with an upset victory over 12th-seeded Yuki Kaneko and Misaki Matsumoto of Japan, coming from behind to win the mixed doubles tie 19-21, 21-11, 21-17 in 59 minutes.
SINGAPORE — There was double joy for brothers Loh Kean Yew and Loh Kean Hean at the Badminton World Championships in Tokyo on Wednesday (24 August), as both overcame tricky opposition to advance into the round of 16.
Defending men's singles champion Kean Yew endured a second-game slump, but recovered well to defeat Guatemala's Kevin Cordon 21-12, 11-12, 21-12 in the round-of-32 clash at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
The Singapore world No.8 had looked in control in the first game, winning nine points in a row to go from 9-10 down to 18-10 up to clinch the opener. However, world No.40 Cordon showed why he was a surprise semi-finalist in last year's Tokyo Olympics when he stormed back to dominate Kean Yew in the second game.
However, Kean Yew managed to seize the initiative right from the start of the third game, going 5-0 and 12-1 up before easing to victory. He will next face either Hong Kong's world No.11 Angus Ng in the last-16.
Doubles pair stun higher-ranked Malaysian rivals
Prior to Kean Yew's win, his elder brother Kean Hean and men's doubles partner Terry Hee stunned ninth-seeded Malaysian duo Ong Yew Sin and Teo Ee Yi - bronze medallists in the last World Championships - 22-20, 22-20 to advance into the round of 16.
The world No.41 Singapore duo battled from tough deficits in both games - 14-18 in the first and 8-13 in the second - to draw level at 20-all, before taking the subsequent two points in each game to earn an upset win over the world No.10 opponents.
They will meet either Denmark's Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen or India's M. R. Arjun and Dhruv Kapila in the next round.
There was also good news for women's doubles pair Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong, who had advanced on Tuesday after defeating their Austrian opponents in the round of 64.
The duo's last-32 opponents, Japan's Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, withdrew from the competition, allowing the Singaporeans to advance to the round of 16, where they will face either China's Zhang Shuxian and Zheng Yu or Scotland's Julie MacPherson and Ciara Torrance.
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