Loh Kean Yew through to Singapore Open quarter-finals after late comeback

Loh Kean Yew will meet Christo Popov in the Singapore Open quarter-finals on May 30. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

SINGAPORE – On a day for dark horses, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew bucked the trend to keep local hopes up as he staged a late rally to prevail 21-12, 14-21, 21-18 against 16th-ranked Toma Junior Popov of France in their men’s singles last-16 match at the US$1 million (S$1.29 million) KFF Singapore Open on May 29.

The world No. 10, who slid on his knees in relief and exhilaration after recovering from 11-16 down to win the decider, said: “I agree I wasn’t at my best in the last two games and it was hard to control the draught and the shuttle today. Toma was playing very well, so it was hard to play against him.

“I was pretty lucky at the end. I don’t know exactly what I did, but I just did what I could to win every point. I thought, ‘What’s the worst that could happen? I’ll just get scolded here and there’. So I just tried.

“It was more of the fighting spirit and the crowd boosting me. I think it affected him a little bit, especially at the end when they kept chanting my name. The nerves were there and it was crucial.”

The home favourite had already overcome one Frenchman in ninth-ranked Alex Lanier in the opening round, and will meet another one in the May 30 quarter-finals when he faces 23-year-old Christo Popov, who is Toma Junior’s younger brother and ranked 23rd.

Loh, 27, said: “I just played his brother, so they are going to go back and analyse and they will have a strategy against me, for sure. It’s going to be a tough match. I’m going to prepare and try my best and hope I’ll be able to perform better.”

Loh made an explosive start against Toma Junior as he led 9-1 and took the first game 21-12.

However, unforced errors started to creep in when he was playing with the draught behind him in the second game, as his 26-year-old opponent utilised his 1.96m frame and 21cm height advantage to smash his way to a 21-14 win, breaking his strings twice in the process.

The two were near inseparable at the start of the third game, until Toma Junior started pulling away from 6-6 and stretched his lead to 16-11. As both players threw caution to the wind and attacked with wild abandon, they won points but also gave some away cheaply.

The turning point appeared to be when Loh dived to his left to retrieve a cross-court smash, before a delicate drop forced the Frenchman to hit wide as he trimmed the deficit to 14-17.

A brilliant 8-1 run that was capped by a 23-shot rally brought Loh to his knees and the 5,880 spectators at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on their feet, as he extended his streak of three-game wins to eight consecutive matches and his head-to-head record against Toma Junior to 6-0.

He will need more of the same mental fortitude going forward as several seeds fell to open up the path to the final.

On Loh’s half of the draw, 15th-ranked Lu Guangzu of China stunned his compatriot, world No. 1 and defending men’s singles champion Shi Yuqi, 17-21, 21-13, 26-24. He saved two match points and required six of his own to seal a quarter-final against Japan’s world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka.

China’s world No. 4 Li Shifeng was eliminated 21-18, 21-14 by 19th-ranked Lin Chun-yi of Chinese Taipei, while Indonesia’s world No. 5 Jonatan Christie lost 21-16, 21-19 to Malaysia’s 25th-ranked Leong Jun Hao.

Leong will next face Thailand’s world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, the reigning world and Asian champion, who eased to a 21-8, 21-17 win over China’s 33rd-ranked Wang Zhengxing.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen, a semi-finalist here in 2024, fell 21-12, 21-16 to Hong Kong’s 21st-ranked Lee Cheuk Yiu.

There were also upsets in the women’s singles. Japan’s world No. 8 Tomoka Miyazaki lost 21-17, 21-18 to 18th-ranked Michelle Li of Canada, while Thai world No. 9 Supanida Katethong was beaten 21-11, 21-16 by Japan’s world No. 20 Natsuki Nidaira.

But South Korea’s defending champion and world No. 1 An Se-young was in superb form as she beat Singapore’s 11th-ranked Yeo Jia Min 21-14, 21-13 to take her perfect winning streak in 2025 to 27 matches.

The 23-year-old world and Olympic champion will meet China’s world No. 5 Chen Yufei in the quarter-finals.

Yeo, 26, said An’s quick feet and shots caused her to commit many unforced errors, adding: “She barely made any mistakes and is so consistent, so I have to go back to work on my game, cut down on the unforced errors and increase my level of focus.”

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

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