Loh Kean Yew (born 26 June 1997) is a Singaporean badminton player. He is the former men's singles world champion, winning the title at the 2021 BWF World Championships, becoming the first Singaporean to achieve this feat. He is known for his agility, footwork and powerful smashes.
Loh's success as a child in Penang state team saw him receive a scholarship from the Singapore Sports School. He made his international debut for Singapore at the 2015 SEA Games, becoming a Singaporean citizen that same year. He went on to represent Singapore in several international competitions, including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Early life and education Loh Kean Yew was born on 26 June 1997 in Penang, Malaysia, as the youngest son of four brothers, to his parents Loh Pin Keat and Grace Gan. His mother described him as "very cheeky" when he was young and able to talk his way out of trouble. Loh's elder brother, Kean Hean, is also a member of the Singapore national badminton team.
According to Loh, he began playing badminton at the age of four, at the gate of his house, along with his brothers and his neighbour. He stopped playing the sport at age seven after being looked down on by his seniors, in contrast to media reports which stated that he had been "bullied" as a child. However, he resumed playing badminton at age nine. Within six months, he progressed to join the Penang state team. Loh briefly trained with the Penang Badminton Association (PBA) until the age of 12, at their badminton academy in Ayer Itam. According to the president of the PBA, Loh and his third brother Loh Kean Hean were attending training nine times a week at the prompting of their mother, and they were trained by two Chinese coaches, Li Mu and Chao Yue. Loh won the 2009 National Junior Grand Prix Finals by defeating Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia in the under-12 final.
In 2007, Loh visited Singapore for the first time, as his brother Kean Hean attended a trial at the Singapore Sports School, with Loh being there to help his brother warm up. Kean Hean moved to Singapore in 2009, joining Montfort Secondary School. Meanwhile, Loh visited Singapore again in 2009 for his trial with the Singapore Sports School, where he performed well enough to be offered a place in the Singapore Sports School's Badminton Academy. Loh was also offered a place in Malaysia's Bukit Jalil Sports School but he rejected it for Singapore.
Loh moved to Singapore at the age of 13 to attend the Singapore Sports School's four-year programme from 2010 to 2013, on a scholarship offered by the school. With Loh's parents remaining in their family home in George Town, they relied on support in Singapore to look after Loh, stemming from sources such as Loh's maternal uncle, an ex-classmate of Loh's father, as well as the family of Kean Hean's doubles partner Terry Hee. Loh said that his initial reaction was anger, but he had no choice because his mother "already bought the tickets". He suffered from homesickness for a period but got better when he called his mother and cried to her, letting out the unhappiness. Loh credited his peers for not judging his accent and allowing him to fit in with them. He also credited the school staff for taking care of him. He had badminton training twice a day at the Singapore Sports School. From late 2011 onwards, Loh was coached by Kelvin Ho, a former Singapore national badminton player.
After graduating from the Singapore Sports School, Loh continued his education at Republic Polytechnic (RP), studying Sports and Leisure Management. In 2015, Loh officially became a Singaporean citizen. Also that year, after Loh had turned 18, he informed his mother that he would drop out of schooling to become a professional sportsman, as Loh wanted to focus on badminton full-time. His mother said that the family was "shocked", and recounted telling Loh: "I sent him to Singapore to study, but now he wants to give that up to play badminton?" However, the family ultimately "trusted" and "supported" Loh because he was "mature", "disciplined and knew what he wanted to do", said his mother. As such, Loh dropped out of Republic Polytechnic after one year of study.
Career 2012–2013: Senior circuits exposure 2012 marked the start of Loh's professional career. At age 15, Loh played in his first senior tournament at the 2012 Chinese Taipei Open in October. He participated in two events, the men's singles and the mixed doubles.
In 2013, he participated in eight more tournaments throughout the year, either in the men's singles discipline, doubles, or both. His best showing was in the singles events where he reached the second round of both the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters.
2014–2020: First World Tour success and Four International titles In 2014, Loh won that year's Singapore International Series tournament, with International Series events being the fourth tier of Badminton World Federation events at the time.
At the age of 17, Loh (world no. 139) represented Singapore at the 2015 SEA Games in the men's singles event and won a bronze after being defeated by Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif in the semi-final. He was also in the men's team in 2015, 2017, and 2019, where he won bronzes in all three editions. He also won the Singapore and Malaysia International tournaments in 2017.
Loh served his National Service (NS) for the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) from 2016 to 2018, eventually earning the rank of corporal first class (CFC). During his service, he continued to train and play badminton for the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA), as well as representing his country at various major events such as the 2017 SEA Games and the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2017, he stated that his goal is to eventually win an Olympic gold medal for Singapore in badminton. In 2018, he received the best sportsman award from SAFSA.
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Loh lost to Lee Chong Wei in the quarter-finals in the men's singles event, and lost 3–0 in the bronze medal playoff to England in the Mixed team event. Loh lost to Rajiv Ouseph in the second match, losing 22–20, 15–21, 23–25 in three games. Thereafter, he won his fourth International Series/Challenge title, the 2018 Mongolia International tournament. That same year, Loh briefly joined the Langhøj Badminton Club in Denmark for 3 months.
During the Thailand Masters in 2019, as a qualifier, Loh won against China's Zhou Zeqi, Zhao Junpeng, and Chinese Taipei's Wang Tzu-wei before advancing to the semifinals. He took the semifinals against Brice Leverdez in an eventual 2–1 win. He played against China's Lin Dan in the final and won with a score of 21–19, 21–18.
At Loh's first World Championships, he lost to Chinese Taipei's Chou Tien-chen in the round of 16, losing 13–21, 21–18, 17–21 in three games.
Loh won the men's singles silver medal in the 2019 SEA Games, losing in the final match against Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia. Loh also won his first National Championships title that year, defeating compatriot Lee Wei Hong in the final.
2021: Rise to World Champion
Loh qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics after placing 18th in the Race to Tokyo men's singles rankings. He was the flag bearer for Singapore during the Parade of Nations. In July 2021, Loh was eliminated from the Olympics in the group stage; he won a match against Aram Mahmoud in straight games, and lost to Jonatan Christie, the seventh seed, in a closely-contested rubber game.
From August 2021, Loh attended a one-month training camp in Dubai arranged by Denmark's Olympic badminton champion Viktor Axelsen, joining Axelsen and fellow players Toby Penty from England, Brian Yang from Canada, Felix Burestedt from Sweden, Lakshya Sen from India, as well as teenagers Axel Parkhoi and Marcus Viscovich from Denmark. There were 12 training sessions per week, with a training style similar to interval training with 90-second drills, said Loh. Loh followed this with three weeks of training with France's national badminton squad at INSEP near Paris.
In mid-October 2021, Loh (world no. 41) took part in the Dutch Open as the second seed. Loh won the tournament by prevailing in the finals 21–12, 21–16 over top seed Lakshya Sen (world no. 25), Loh's former training partner. It was Loh's first tournament victory since 2019; the win netted him S$1,900.
In early November 2021, Loh (world no. 39) won the 2021 Hylo Open in Saarbrücken, Germany, which was the first time he won a Super 500 event (the fourth-highest tier of the BWF World Tour). The unseeded Loh defeated top seed Chou Tien-chen (world no. 4), in the first round 21–18, 21–13. After dispatching France's Toma Junior Popov (world no. 35) and Denmark's Rasmus Gemke (world no. 13), Loh then defeated Lakshya Sen in the semi-finals 21–18, 21–12. In the finals, Loh again defeated Lee Zii Jia (world no. 8), this time with a score of 19–21, 21–13, 17–12 when Lee retired due to injury. Loh won S$32,400 in prize money as a result.
In mid-November 2021, Loh (world no. 30) took part in the 2021 Indonesia Masters, where he defeated Wang Tzu-wei (world no. 11), in the first round, but lost in the next round to Wang's compatriot Chou Tien-chen 10–21, 12–21. In late November 2021, Loh participated in the 2021 Indonesia Open, a Super 1000 tournament. In the round of 16, Loh defeated the defending 2-time world champion Kento Momota (world no. 1), from Japan, with a score of 21–7, 17–21, 21–19. Subsequent wins over Danish players Hans-Kristian Vittinghus (world no. 21) and Rasmus Gemke sent Loh into the finals, where Loh lost to Viktor Axelsen 13–21, 21–9, 13–21. His run was the best performance by a Singaporean male shuttler since Ronald Susilo's singles win at the 2004 Japan Open, a Super 750 tournament. However, the loss meant that Loh failed to qualify for the 2021 BWF World Tour Finals.
2021 BWF World Championships In the 2021 BWF World Championships men's singles tournament in Huelva, Spain, the unseeded Loh (world no. 22) beat reigning Olympic champion and second seed Viktor Axelsen (world no. 1) in the first round with a score of 14–21, 21–9, 21–6 on 14 December. This was Loh's first victory over his former training partner. In the second and third rounds, Loh breezed past Austria's Luka Wraber (world no. 93) 21–4, 21–8, and Thailand's Kantaphon Wangcharoen (world no. 20), the sixteenth seed, 21–4, 21–7. In the quarter-finals, Loh defeated India's Prannoy H. S. (world no. 32) 21–14, 21–12, his first victory against Prannoy after two previous losses. Thus, Loh qualified for the semi-finals and guaranteed a medal at the World Championships, a feat never achieved before by any Singaporean. While playing against Prannoy, Loh sprained his right ankle.
In the semi-finals on 18 December, Loh defeated the third seed, Denmark's Anders Antonsen (world no. 3) 23–21, 21–14 to qualify for the finals. After the semi-final match, Loh's right ankle injury had deteriorated to the point that he could not walk and required a wheelchair. Loh later said that his physiotherapist (Ho Jiaying) worked on his foot from 10:30 pm to 1:30 am to ensure that he could walk again. In the finals, Loh further made Singaporean history by winning the 2021 BWF World Championships, defeating the twelfth seed, India's Srikanth Kidambi (world no. 14) in a 43-minute match with a score of 21–15, 22–20. After the win, Loh credited people from the Singapore Badminton Association, Sport Singapore, Singapore Sport Institute, and "many others" for help and support during his journey. His return to Singapore's Changi Airport was greeted with a water salute at the tarmac, similar to Joseph Schooling after he had won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming.
2022: Commonwealth and Badminton Asia Team Bronzes