Badminton: Loh Kean Yew tops group, reaches last 16 round at Paris Olympics

PARIS – On a day of several badminton upsets, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew was made to work for his spot in the Paris 2024 Olympics men’s singles round of 16, as he beat the spirited world No. 50 Uriel Canjura 21-13, 21-16 on July 31.

The hard-earned victory over El Salvador’s first Olympic badminton player at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena helped world No. 12 Loh top Group M after a win over 63rd-ranked Czech Jan Louda on July 28. He also became Singapore’s first male player to make it to the knockout since Ronald Susilo made the last eight at Athens 2004.

Only each of the 13 group winners progress and Loh will play China’s world No. 6 Li Shifeng, who also laboured to a 21-17, 21-17 win over Nigeria’s 103rd-ranked Anuoluwapo Opeyori, on Aug 1 for a place in the quarter-finals.

While he holds a 4-2 head-to-head lead over Li, the Chinese won their two most recent meetings.

Loh said: “Every win is a step closer to a medal, and I want to go as far as I can here. My mentality going into any match here is the same – prepare to the fullest, try to play to my best, and keep fighting.”

Denmark’s defending champion Viktor Axelsen (Group P), compatriot and world No. 3 Anders Antonsen (Group E) and China’s top-ranked Shi Yuqi also came through unscathed and are in the quarter-finals thanks to a last-16 bye.

While the men’s singles field is highly competitive, it still came as a surprise that both of Indonesia’s All England Open finalists were eliminated at the group stage.

World No. 4 and All England champion Jonatan Christie became badminton’s first seeded casualty at these Games after he lost 21-18, 21-12 to India’s 22nd-ranked Lakshya Sen, who topped Group L and will face 13th-ranked compatriot H. S. Prannoy or Vietnam’s world No. 70 Le Duh Phat from Group K.

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Compatriot and world No. 9 Anthony Ginting then followed him after home favourite Toma Junior Popov brought the house down with a rousing 21-19, 17-21, 21-15 win to top Group H. The 20th-ranked Frenchman will meet Malaysia’s world No. 7 and Group G winner Lee Zii Jia.

In the women’s singles, Taiwanese world No. 3 Tai Tzu-ying, who is retiring at the end of the season, will finish her career without an Olympic or world championship gold after she too crashed out with a 21-19, 21-15 Group E defeat by 21st-ranked Ratchanok Intanon.

The Thai is one of three group winners – along with Group A’s South Korean An Se-young and Group P’s Chinese defending champion Chen Yufei – who received a bye to the quarter-finals as there are only 13 groups.

On July 31, world No. 20 Yeo Jia Min had become the first Singaporean badminton player to reach the Olympics round of 16 since 2012 after topping Group I with a win over Mauritius’ 93rd-ranked Kate Foo Kune. She will play Japan’s world No. 10 Aya Ohori in the round of 16 on Aug 1.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.