Loh Kean Yew celebrates Taipei Open gold, first title in over a year
SINGAPORE: It was a triumphant weekend for badminton star Loh Kean Yew, who squeezed past Taiwanese player Chou Tien-chen (21-14, 15-21, 22-20) to claim the gold at the Taipei Open on Sunday (May 11).
Loh, arguably the city-state's best male singles player to date, is the first Singaporean to win the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships. He accomplished this in Huelva, Spain, in 2021, at 23.
He is also the first Singaporean to win the Taipei Open, his 10th career badminton title, and first in over a year. Before facing Chou, Low bested Hong Kong's Chan Yin Chak, Finland's Joakim Oldorff, Thailand's Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul, and Taiwan's Wang Tzu-wei.
While the 35-year-old Chou is ranked seventh globally, Loh is ranked 11th. The Singaporean athlete's highest-ever world ranking was third, which he achieved on Nov 8, 2022.
In acknowledging his victory, Loh was as humble and personable as ever, writing in posts on Instagram and Facebook the following day that he was ' Glad to be on the podium once again, and this time with a gold medal!! Couldn't have done it without my support system— the team that work tirelessly behind the scene and the sacrifices and understanding from my family.'
Loh got married in early 2023, but only let the public know about it on Christmas Eve of that year, when he posted photos from when he and his wife had got engaged the year before. The couple welcomed a son in July 2024.
In his latest social media post, he also thanked those who supported him last week and expressed the hope to return to Taipei because he 'already' misses 卤肉饭 (braised rice with pork and soy sauce) and 木瓜牛奶 ( a papaya milk drink that is popular in Taiwan).
So far, 2025 has been a good year for Loh. At the Badminton Asia Championships in April, he took home the bronze, defeating China's Shi Yu Qi before Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn bested him.
Loh credited the improvement in his game to the style of his new coach, Kim Ji-hyun.
'She's sharpened our aggression and adaptability. The changes are paying off!' Loh said in an interview with CGTN after his win over Shi.
Kim, who just took on the role of national singles coach for Singapore in January, has seen some good results. Singapore's top women's singles player, Yeo Jia Min won at the German Open, scoring her first BWF title since 2019. On March 2, she breezed past Vietnam's Nguyen Thuy Linh 21-16, 21-17.
The featured photo collage is from Loh Kean Yew's Instagram account, which he credited to @daching_photo. /TISG
Read also: 'The changes are paying off' — Loh Kean Yew says of new coach after stunning win against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi
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