Podium finish at Asian Games the target for Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min, says coach
Singapore’s only Asian Games badminton medal has been the women’s team bronze at the 2006 Doha Games.
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SINGAPORE: Former world champion Loh Kean Yew does not have particularly fond memories of his Asian Games debut in 2023, but three years on, the 29-year-old has an opportunity to set things right.
“The previous one was a bad Asian Games for me,” he told reporters on Wednesday (Sep 16).
“This time going in, I should … be more experienced in handling the mental stress part. Hopefully I’ll be able to do that well and just play my best in every match, one match at a time.”
At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, Loh lost to Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the men’s singles round of 32, ending his campaign prematurely.
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“I want to do better than the last time,” he said. “As athletes, whenever we compete overseas, the goal is definitely to get on the podium.
“All we can do is focus on ourselves and give it our all. Whether we can achieve it or not, as long as we’ve done our best, we’ll have no regrets.”
Loh will be among the four badminton players set to represent Singapore at the Sep 19 to Oct 4 Games in Nagoya, Japan.
He will be joined by Singapore’s top women’s singles player Yeo Jia Min, and the men’s doubles pair of Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.
“During the Asian Games, all the top players will be there, so they (Loh and Yeo) will take it one match at a time,” said national singles assistant coach Kelvin Ho.
“But of course, the target will be the podium. They will fight in every match to try and get a medal for Singapore.”
Singapore’s only Asian Games badminton medal has been the women’s team bronze at the 2006 Doha Games.
In the singles events, world number 13 Loh and world number 45 Yeo will be up against stiff competition.
The vast majority of the world’s top singles players hail from Asia, including men’s world number 1 Jonatan Christie (Indonesia) and women’s world number 1 An Se-young (South Korea).
“There are a lot of Asian players who are very good, and they are all participating in these Asian Games and also preparing themselves to the fullest,” said Loh.
“(The men’s singles) is so open that anyone can beat anyone on their good days or with a good draw or good fortune.”
On the women’s singles front, however, An has been a dominant force. The reigning Olympic champion has won seven titles this year.
“Everyone’s just trying to catch up because she’s always reaching new standards and levels, and we’re just trying to see how to find her weaknesses and stuff like that,” said Yeo. “So definitely, she’s the favourite to win on our end.”
EMBRACING THE GAMES
It has been a tough year on court for Yeo, who has been stricken by injury. She last competed at the Australian Badminton Open in June, where she had to retire in the round of 16.
“I haven’t been participating in the past tournaments because I’m trying to take care of my body first, with the advice of doctors and also my physical trainer. For us, the goal was for me to be ready for the Asian Games. Thankfully, it’s been going so far quite well,” she said.
“I am definitely not 100 per cent but … I will definitely be trying to push it to prepare my best.”
Yeo added that the goal for her is to play her best and not leave with any regrets.
For Loh, it has been a packed year, which has seen him compete in more than 10 Badminton World Federation tournaments while recovering from injury. Most recently, he was eliminated in the round of 16 at the China Masters.
“Throughout this period, I’ve been trying to build up my physical strength and body, and I think so far it has been built up quite well. But with this limited time, I’m just doing whatever I can,” he said.
Koh and Kubo, a relatively new doubles partnership ranked 42nd in the world, said they are excited to compete.
“It’s our first Asian Games together, so I think definitely we are excited, and I think we just want to gather as much experience as we can as a pair,” said Koh.
“It’s just something new, and we want to just embrace the whole Games and just take as much as we can.”
Source: CNA/mt(mi)
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