Loh Kean Yew loses see-saw battle with Indian rival at BWF World Championships
Singapore's ex-world champ mounts fightback but falters in key points against H.S. Prannoy in their 69-minute match
SINGAPORE — Former world champion Loh Kean Yew exited this year's BWF World Championships in the round of 16, losing in a hard-fought, see-saw match against India's H.S. Prannoy on Thursday (24 August).
The Singapore shuttler - who won this tournament in 2021 to become Singapore's first world champion - battled his world No.9 rival for 69 minutes, but lost out in the final key points to succumb 18-21, 21-15, 19-21 at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Loh had mounted a tremendous fightback in the third game, going from 4-11 to lead 16-14, but Prannoy steadied himself in time to hold off the world No.7.
"I gave it my all. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. I just have to go back, analyse and come back stronger," Loh told The Straits Times after his loss.
Prannoy thus advanced to meet defending champion and world No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Loh's title drought continues, with his World Championships triumph in December 2021 being the last time he had won a title. He has reached two finals this year - at the Badminton Asia Championships and the Korea Open - but came up short in each of them.
Singapore singles players' results
Loh's round-of-16 exit also marks the end of Singapore's challenge at the World Championships.
Jason Teh advanced out of the men's singles round of 64 on Monday, beating Czechia's Jan Louda 24-22, 17-21, 21-15. However, the wolrd No.98 was beaten by Hong Kong's 15th-seeded Lee Cheuk Yiu on Wednesday, losing his last-32 match 17-21, 21-23.
Women's singles player Yeo Jia Min received a walkover in her round-of-64 match, after her opponent Qi Xuefei of France withdrew. The world No.22 faced Indonesian eighth seed Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the round of 32 on Wednesday, and was beaten 10-21, 24-22, 14-21 in 57 minutes.
Youngster Insyirah Khan exited the women's singles round of 64 on Tuesday, losing in 50 minutes to Brazil's Juliana Viana Vieira 9-21, 21-19, 14-21.
Singapore doubles pairs exit in the early stages
In the men's doubles, Andy Kwek and Loh Kean Hean were stopped in the round of 64, losing 12-21, 21-10, 14-21 the China's Ren Xiangyu and Tan Qiang on Tuesday.
The women's doubles pair of Jin Yujia and Crystal Wong stormed through their opening-round match against England's Chloe Birch and Lauren Smith on Tuesday, winning 21-10, 21-11 in just 33 minutes.
However, they came up short in the round of 32 on Wednesday, losing 18-21, 11-21 to China's 12th-seeded Li Wenmei and Liu Xuanxuan.
Mixed doubles duo Terry Hee and Jessica Tan also won their opening match on Tuesday, easily defeating Denmark's Mathias Thyri and Amalie Magelund 21-12, 21-8.
However, the Commonwealth Games gold medallists - who also earned the Team of the Year (Event) honours at the Singapore Sports Awards - fell in the round-of-32 hurdle the next day, losing 17-21, 8-21 to South Korea's fifth-seeded Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung.
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