Paris Olympics: Loh Kean Yew loses to Viktor Axelsen in quarter-finals
The match was an uphill task for Singaporean shuttler Loh Kean Yew, who had just two wins in his previous 10 meetings with Danish world No. 2 Axelsen.
PHOTO: The Straits Times
PUBLISHED ONAugust 02, 2024 9:43 PMByDavid Lee
PARIS – Loh Kean Yew’s dream of delivering Singapore’s first Olympic badminton medal was dashed by his pal and defending champion Viktor Axelsen, who won 21-9, 21-17 at the Porte de la Chapelle Arena on Aug 2.
The Danish world No. 2, who had a last-16 bye, will meet India’s 22nd-ranked Lakshya Sen on Aug 4 for a place in the final.
It was an uphill task for Loh to begin with, as he had just two wins in their 10 previous meetings. But he was not helped by his own passivity and scrapped right knuckles as well as his 1.94m opponent’s incredible reach and imperious form as Axelsen barely made an unforced error.
The world No. 12 will leave Paris with the consolation that he joins Ronald Susilo (men’s singles, Athens 2004) and Jiang Yanmei and Li Yujia (mixed doubles, Beijing 2008) as the only Singaporeans to have made it as far as the quarter-finals.
In his Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2021, he was eliminated at the group stage.
In the Paris 2024 preliminary round, Loh topped Group M with wins over El Salvador’s world No. 50 Uriel Canjura and 63rd-ranked Czech Jan Louda to seal his first appearance in the Olympics knockout round. He then beat China’s world No. 6 Li Shifeng to make the last eight.
Earlier in the day, Sen had outlasted Taiwanese world No. 11 Chou Tien-chen 19-21, 21-15, 21-12 to become the first Indian player to reach the Olympics men’s singles semi-finals.
The other semi-final will be contested between Thailand’s world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who stunned China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi 21-12, 21-10, and Malaysia’s seventh-ranked Lee Zii Jia, who overcame Denmark’s world No. 3 Anders Antonsen 21-17, 21-15.
This means for the first time since Athens 2004, China will not have a representative in the last four of the men’s singles.
However, the Chinese still had something to cheer about after world No. 1 mixed doubles pair Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong claimed gold with a comprehensive 21-8, 21-11 win over South Korea’s eighth-ranked Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun.
This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.