SINGAPORE – The excruciating wait for a follow-up success to Loh Kean Yew’s 2021 badminton world title continues.
On Feb 4, he lost 21-16, 6-21, 21-16 to Taiwanese world No. 14 Chou Tien-chen in the men’s singles final of the US$210,000 (S$282,000) Thailand Masters at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok.
Loh said: “Although I didn’t win, I’m still happy that I managed to reach the finals. I’ve been working on some minor changes and the coaches and I are glad to see improvements.
“There are still some stuff lacking, and through this loss we learn again, we keep improving, and hopefully we’ll get better.”
In the earlier rounds, the Singaporean world No. 12 and second seed had beaten lower-ranked opponents in straight games. They were Chinese Taipei’s world No. 54 Huang Yu-kai, Israel’s Misha Zilberman (No. 45), Japan’s Takuma Obayashi (No. 31) and another Taiwanese, Su Li-yang (No. 33).
But Chou, who was tied 3-3 in his head-to-head record with Loh, is a different calibre. The former world No. 2 survived deciders against compatriots Wang Po-wei and Lin Chun-yi in the last 16 and quarter-final respectively.
Besides his impressive stamina, the 34-year-old also has a strong all-round game where he rallies to find openings to finish off his formidable smashes.
Playing against the drift, Chou executed his game plan and elicited unforced errors from Loh to claim the first game.
The tide turned with the change of ends in the second game, as Loh played an almost flawless net game, while Chou conserved energy for the decider.
Loh, who won his first BWF World Tour title at this event by beating Chinese great Lin Dan in the 2019 final, led early in the third game, firing sizzling winners almost at will.
But it all went downhill for the 26-year-old after he smashed into the net to give Chou a 9-8 lead.
Trailing 13-16, Loh rushed a net winner which was ruled a foul by the umpire. Instead of a two-point deficit, he was down 13-17.
That moment perhaps played on his mind as he was hesitant on another point later and could not build any momentum.
He saved one match point, and on the second, retrieved four smashes from Chou but not the fifth, losing his fifth successive final since becoming world champion.
Loh earned US$7,980 in prize money but the wait goes on for a third World Tour title.
He said: “We can’t change the call from the umpire, so we just have to focus on the next point. Overall, I have to continue to stay focused on the process and stay patient. The results will come when we are ready for it.”
Along with his teammates, his next assignment is the Feb 13-19 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Malaysia. The men are in Group C with Japan, Thailand and Myanmar, while the women are in Group Z with Japan and Chinese Taipei.
National singles assistant coach Loh Wei Sheng said: “Kean Yew played well in this tournament. His concentration level and fighting spirit were good throughout.
“He showed some improvement on his front-court execution. He managed to execute good quality shots through the front court to create chances to attack.
“He showed some improvement on his back court attack as well with more variations. He needs to improve more on his mental strength. During crucial moments, he needs to be more decisive and confident with his game play.
“We will work hard on fixing the weaknesses during training and fight again in the coming tournaments.”
In other finals on Jan 4, Japan’s Aya Ohori beat Thai Supanida Katethong 18-21, 21-17, 21-13 to claim the women’s singles crown, while Chinese duo He Jiting and Ren Xiangyu beat Thais Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakkapon Teeraratsakul 16-21, 21-14, 21-13 for the men’s doubles title.
The home crowd, however, could celebrate wins in the women’s and mixed doubles finals.
