SINGAPORE’S Loh Kean Yew (pic) suffered another demoralising defeat since winning the world title in December last year.
This time, it was at the Commonwealth Games mixed team event when the 25-year-old world No. 9 went down to Lakshya Sen 18-21, 15-21 in the semi-finals against India at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on Monday.
Singapore eventually exited with a 0-3 defeat to the mighty Indians, with the other two points coming from P.V. Sindhu (women’s singles) and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty (men’s doubles).
He also struggled against Toby Penty in the bronze-medal playoff against England yesterday as he had to huff and puff to win 23-25, 21-11, 25-23.
The defeat to Lakshya must have been difficult to swallow as Kean Yew has not really hit top form since winning the historic world title in Huelva, Spain eight months ago.
His run of misery on the international stage however could open up an opportunity for Ng Tze Yong to fight for a medal in his Commonwealth Games debut.
Tze Yong and Kean Yew are expected to clash in the men’s singles quarter-finals when the individual competition begins today.
The winner is likely to meet India’s K. Srikanth in the semi-finals.
The battle in the lower half for the final spot will be between second seed Lakhsya and Canada’s Brian Yang.
Tze Yong has a point to prove after getting a place in the Games following the decision of Lee Zii Jia to skip the tournament to focus on the World Championships in Tokyo.
It’s the best platform to justify his standing as the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s No. 1 singles player.
Both Tze Yong and Kean Yew have received first-round byes.
The only Malaysians who will be in action today are Cheah Yee See-Lai Pei Jing in the women’s doubles as Goh Jin Wei (women’s singles) and Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing and Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See have received first-round byes. The men’s doubles will only start tomorrow.
