A new record just entered the badminton world’s history. From Singapore, a country that is usually out of the radar especially in the men’s singles, a new world champion just emerged: Loh Kean Yew.
Last month, in our article titled “Showtime for Loh Kean Yew”, we highlighted his amazing performance at the Indonesia Open 2021. Turns out that Loh Kean Yew’s showtime continues even after the Indonesia Badminton Festival in Bali has ended.
Loh Kean Yew’s home country Singapore means “lion city” and his title as a world champion is no less than a roar that puts his homeland into the badminton world’s map.
At the final round of the BWF World Championships 2021 that was held in Huelva, Spain, the 24-year-old player defeated Indian player Kidambi Srikanth in a straight game 21-15, 22-20. The battle between Loh and Kidambi lasted for “only” 43 minutes. This victory avenged the loss that Loh had at the Commonwealth Games 2018. At that time, he was still very young and got defeated by Kidambi in a straight game 17-21, 14-21.
Loh Kean Yew’s journey at the BWF World Championships 2021 had been one that caught our attention. He started by defeating the 2nd seed who’s also the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Viktor Axelsen from Denmark in a rubber game 14-21, 21-9, 21-6. It was a victory that turned all eyes on Loh because he put a halt to Axelsen who was on fire after winning the title at the BWF World Tour Finals.
Prior to this victory, Axelsen defeated Loh Kean Yew at the Indonesia Open 2021 in a rubber set 13-21, 21-9, 13-21. Before the BWF World Championships 2021, Loh had 4 head-to-head matches with Axelsen and lost all of them. But right before the year 2021 ends, Loh pulled all of his magic.
His victory over Axelsen at the round of 64 in the BWF World Championships 2021 boosted his confidence. In the next rounds, Loh played very well until he came out as the world champion at the end.
The World Championship title is Loh Kean Yew’s third title in 2021. Previously, the player who’s currently ranked #22, had also won titles at the Hylo Open 2021 and the Dutch Open 2021.
Behind the rise of Loh Kean Yew, there’s the magic touch of coach Kelvin Ho from Singapore and coach Mulyo Handoyo from Indonesia. Coach Ho and Loh’s relationship goes all the way back since Ho was 21 and Loh was 14. “I wanted to help him control his emotions, to help him know that we’re here together to fight,” coach Ho said in an interview with the National Olympic Council of Singapore after Loh’s debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo has been working hard and relentlessly with Loh for three years. Interestingly, coach Handoyo is also the one behind the success of Taufik Hidayat, who became one of the world’s badminton legends after winning gold medals at the Athens 2004 Olympic and the BWF World Championships 2005. With his fast experiences, coach Handoyo started working on Loh Kean Yew after finishing his work in India.
Another story that’s similar to Loh’s is when Carolina Marin became a world champion in the women’s singles. She came from Spain, a country that’s also out of the radar in badminton history. Amazingly, Marin became a world champion 3 times, in 2014, 2015, and 2018. In 2016, she became a gold medalist at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
As for Loh Kean Yew, we are looking forward to seeing more of his super-fast killer moves and reaching the greatest height in his badminton career.
