Singapore's World Number 22 on brink of becoming World Champion after defeating Denmark's World Number 3 Anders Antonsen in semi-finals
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19 December 2021, Huelva, Spain - Singapore's World number 22 Loh Kean Yew is on step away from becoming the World Champion after he calmly disposed of Denmark's world number 3 Anders Antonsen in straight sets 23-21, 21-14 in the men’s singles semi-finals of the BWF World Championships to set up a final against India's Kidambi Srikanth.
Despite a scare that saw Antonsen claw back 5 consecutive points in the first set, Loh saw out the match before taking the second set 21-14 for an historic Singapore win.
First Singaporean to Medal at World Championships
Loh had already made history for Singapore by qualifying for the semi-finals of the event a day earlier, becoming the first Singaporean to medal at the World Championships.
Yeo Jia Min had reached the women’s singles quarter-finals in the previous edition of the World Championships, while Ronald Susilo was also eliminated in the same stage in 2007.
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This time, Singaporean world number 22 Loh Kean Yew overcame Antonsen to guarantee a top two finish and a flourishing end to an unbelievable year for the 24 year-old.
In the best form of his life, Loh had already defeated a string of top line opponents in recent weeks, including Olympic Champion Viktor Axelsen in the opening round of this tournament, to avenge his Final defeat at the Indonesia Open Final in Bali last month.
He had also defeated former World number 1 Kento Momota in that tournament.
Image via Badminton Photo