Singapore's top male shuttler books place in last eight of Indonesian Open after overcoming defending world champion
Image via BWF TV
26 November 2021, Bali, Indonesia - Singapore's top male shuttler Loh Kean Yew has defeated Japanese world number 1 Kento Momota to advance to the quarter finals of the Indonesian Open in Bali.
Momota, who is also the defending world champion, looked off colour and had a tough time defending against Loh, who eventually took the game after a rubber set 21-7, 17-21, 21-19 to book his place in the last eight of the US$850,000 (S$1.16 million) Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 1000 tournament.
Image via Badminton Photo
First Career Win
It is Loh Kean Yew's first career win against Kento Momota, and signals the rise of Singapore's Loh.
He won the Super 500 Hylo Open in Germany at the start of the month, and has made a name for himself as a giant killer after defeating a string of top players in the past month, including Chinese Taipei's world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen, Malaysia's All England champion Lee Zii Jia (seventh), Taiwanese Wang Tzu-wei (11th), Denmark's Rasmus Gemke (13th) and India's Lakshya Sen (19th).
The world No. 26 will face Denmark's 21st-ranked Hans-Kristian Vittinghus at the Bali International Convention Center today.
Loh had dominated in the first match, making light work of Momota to win 21-7, but fell behind in the second match to his more experienced opponent.
Image via Badminton Photo
Loh then looked set to lose the decider as he trailed 9-14, but fought his way back and required just one match point to seal the huge upset and his first win over Momota, who missed at the net, in two attempts.
Image via Badminton Photo
Yeo Jiamin falls to Akane Yamaguchi
Singapore's top female shuttler Yeo Jiamin, who also put in an impressive showing earlier this week by overcoming Poland's Jordan Hart 21-9, 21-10 to book her place in the last 16, did not enjoy the same success as her male counterpart in her fourth career clash against third ranked Akane Yamaguchi.
Yeo fell to her Japanese opponent who advanced to the quarter-finals after a 21-15, 19-21, 21-14 victory over Singapore's world no 18.
Yeo will be back in action in Bali next week, making history as the first Singaporean to qualify for the season-ending Badminton World Federation World Tour Finals.