‘I’ll work harder for our little family’: Loh Kean Yew thanks wife after Taipei Open win

In an Instagram post on Mother's Day, Loh Kean Yew thanks his wife for taking care of their baby son as he focuses on his playing career. PHOTOS: LOHKEANYEW/INSTAGRAM

SINGAPORE – Hours after clinching the Taipei Open trophy for his first title of 2025, Singaporean badminton player Loh Kean Yew paid tribute to his wife in a Mother’s Day Instagram post on May 11.

Posting three photos of the family of three and revealing his wife and baby son’s faces publicly for the first time, the 27-year-old wrote about “my dearest wife and the most amazing mum to our little one”.

“Ever since the start of your pregnancy journey, you’ve always given him the best of everything – you’ve to sacrifice your sleep and time to juggle between pump sessions and taking care of our boy to make sure that he gets the best care,” he said.

“Our son is quite a handful (even more mischievous than me) yet you’re able to handle him well and give him all your love. I’ve never seen any babies who doesn’t like to eat, sleep and drink, which is literally what they need to do.

“I’m very blessed to have you as the mother of my child. Many people don’t see this but it’s thanks to you that even though I’m always flying around for training and tournaments, I’m able to focus and give my all in what I do. I’ll work harder for us, our future and our little family.”

Loh is Singapore’s most successful badminton player. He is the first and only local player to win the Badminton World Federation World Championships, and in November 2022 he reached world No. 3 in the rankings, the highest achieved by a Singaporean.

The jovial player is known to be tight-lipped about his private life – he got married in the first quarter of 2023, but only revealed the news on Christmas Eve later that year.

A day later, he shared three of his wedding photos at what appeared to be the Musee Rodin in Paris, France, to celebrate their “ROM anniversary in about two months”.

The couple celebrated another milestone in July 2024 when his wife gave birth to their son while Loh was in Denmark for a training camp ahead of the Olympics.

At Paris 2024, he reached the last eight of the men’s singles tournament where he lost to Denmark’s eventual champion Viktor Axelsen.

While his form slipped after the Olympics – he won just five out of his next 15 matches and was knocked out of the first round in six out of nine BWF World Tour events – he has managed to turn things around in recent months.

In March, he reached the German Open final where he lost to Axelsen, made it to the All England Open quarter-finals later that month, and finished joint-third at the Badminton Asia Championships in April, before his Taipei Open triumph.

His world ranking has also risen from 17th in April to 11th, while he is projected to climb to second in the BWF World Tour rankings for the year, behind compatriot and 23rd-ranked Jason Teh.

He will play in the May 13-18 Thailand Open and take a short break before competing in the May 27-June 1 KFF Singapore Open and June 3-8 Indonesia Open.

In his post on May 11, he wrote to his wife: “I love you. Thank you for being such a wonderful wife and mother. I’ll be back soon and let’s go have a proper meal (if our son allows).”

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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