Badminton: Loh Kean Yew beats Jan Louda for Paris Olympics opening win

PARIS – Sporting a new perm, Singapore’s top badminton player Loh Kean Yew enjoyed a relatively straightforward start to his Paris 2024 Olympics Group M campaign with a 21-13, 21-10 win over Czech Republic’s Jan Louda on July 28.

One of the fastest players on the world tour, the world No. 13 took a short while to get going against his 63rd-ranked opponent in front of a sell-out crowd at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena, as he trailed by four points early on and 9-11 at the interval of the opening game.

But once his engines were greased, and he started to find his smashing range, it was business as usual as Loh reeled off 11 straight points to take the first game.

It was a similar story in the second game, as he tested a variety of strategies to stretch Louda front and back before finding winners through ferocious smashes and delicate net shots.

The 27-year-old will play El Salvador’s 50th-ranked Uriel Canjura on July 31 and a win will seal his first appearance in the Olympics knock-out round, where he is likely to face China’s world No. 6 Li Shifeng in the round of 16.

Earlier in the day, mixed doubles pair Terry Hee and Jessica Tan were eliminated after losing 21-13, 21-17 in their Group D match against China’s world No. 2 Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, who progressed to the quarter-finals.

On July 28, the 17th-ranked pair lost to Malaysians Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei who also made the last eight. As such, they can no longer progress by finishing in the top two, and will play a dead rubber against world No. 30 Americans Vinson Gai and Jennie Chiu on July 29.

In the women’s singles, world No. 20 Yeo Jia Min will also play Mauritius’ 94th-ranked Kate Foo Kune on July 30 for a spot in the last 16 after beating refugee Dorsa Yavarivafa on July 27.

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