Singapore's Loh Kean Yew beats India's Lakshya Sen, advances to Asian Games round of 16
The Singaporean will next face Malaysia's Justin Hoh later on Saturday.
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NAGOYA: Former world champion Loh Kean Yew navigated a tricky opening tie at the Asian Games, defeating India's Lakshya Sen in the men's singles round of 32 on Saturday (Sep 26).
At the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, the world number 13 beat world-ranked 14 Sen 21-12, 15-21, 21-14 in 65 minutes. Both players received a bye in the previous round.
"It's an honour and a privilege to be here representing Singapore to participate in the Games, whether it is Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games or SEA Games," said Loh. "And to be able to win here, it feels even more special."
This is Loh's first singles win at the Games in two outings. At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, Loh lost to Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong at the same stage of the competition after an opening round bye.
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Sen, who clinched a bronze in the team event, raced off to a 5-1 start. But the deficit seemed to jolt the Singaporean into action as he reeled off 10 consecutive points to take a six point lead at the interval.
And the Singaporean looked in imperious form, with Sen having no answer to his trademark smashes and precise drop shots.
Things were closer in the second game as Sen took a slender one point lead going into the break. A more aggressive approach from the Indian coupled with a number of errors from Loh took the match to a decider.
Things swung the way of Loh early on in the third as he led 8-3 and held his nerve despite Sen coming back from 8-14 to 13-14.
"He's all rounded and also very fast and strong," said Loh of Sen. "Lakshya is a good friend and tough opponent, it was a tough match."
Loh defeated Sen at their last meeting earlier this year, but had a 4-7 head-to-head record against his opponent going into Saturday's match.
He will next face Malaysia's world number 48 Justin Hoh later on Saturday.
In the women's singles, there was also a winning start for world number 45 Yeo Jia Min. She saw off Maldives' world ranked 188 Fathimath Abdul Razzaq 21-9, 21-13 to progress.
"Definitely happy to be back competing," said Yeo, who is playing at a tournament for the first time in three months after injury. "Happy to have my family here as well cheering for me. And I can't wait to get back on court."
Yeo will next face Thailand's world number 5 Ratchanok Intanon.
Loh and Yeo are among four badminton players representing Singapore at the Games. The men's doubles pair of Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo are set to feature later on Saturday.
Singapore's only Games badminton medal has been the women's team bronze at the 2006 Doha Games.
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