Loh Kean Yew beats Japan’s Watanabe, advances to maiden Singapore Badminton Open final

The Singaporean took some time to get going in his quarter-final clash with Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu-jen, but showed no signs of rust as he raced to a 11-6 interval lead against Watanabe.

But his Japanese opponent was not out of it as he narrowed the deficit to just three points at 14-11. But a successful challenge for Loh at 16-12, and a smash off the net cord late on would set him on his way to take the first game in 20 minutes.

Things were closer at the start of the second game, and Loh had to come back from 7-9 down to lead 11-9 at the break. Watanabe, however, mounted a comeback, taking the lead at 14-13 and not looking back.

Down 0-3 in the decider, Loh showcased immense mental strength as he stormed back to a 11-5 interval lead. He would then see off the contest to the delight of the partisan home crowd.

Prior to Saturday, Loh’s best finish at his home tournament was a last-four appearance in 2022 where he lost to Anthony Ginting.

Loh had to dig deep to book his semi-final spot this edition.

He eked out wins over India’s Srikanth Kidambi and then H S Prannoy in the round-of-16, before beating Chi. All three matches went to a decider.

The former world champion is Singapore’s sole representative in the tournament after first-round exits for Jason Teh, Yeo Jia Min and the men’s doubles pair of Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.