SINGAPORE: Loh Kean Yew’s strong run at the Korea Open ended with a loss to Denmark’s world No 16 Anders Antonsen in the men’s singles final on Sunday (Jul 23).
At the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu, the eighth-ranked Loh fell 21-11, 11-21, 19-21 in a see-saw clash. Loh was gunning for his first Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour title since winning the World Championships in 2021.
Antonsen looked the more assured of the two early on as he raced to 5-1 lead.
But the Singaporean has proven time and time again at this tournament that he is unfazed by going behind, and a series of trademark jump smashes helped him reel in the Dane and take an 11-10 lead going into the interval.
Loh stretched the gap to 16-10 and Antonsen simply had no answer as the Singaporean closed out the first game in 16 minutes.
The second game followed the same pattern as the first in the early exchanges, but it was Antonsen who took a 11-6 lead. Loh failed to string together a run of points and his opponent would comfortably take the second.
Unlike the first two games, the decider saw Loh take an early lead as he surged ahead 7-3 . But Antonsen won four consecutive points to claw level, before taking an 11-8 lead at the break.
Undeterred, the Singaporean would find his way back into the game from 8-13 to 12-13. But a crucial error at the net from Loh allowed Antonsen to extend his lead, and he eventually took the nail-biting tie.
This was Loh’s second final of 2023. He reached the final of the Badminton Asia Championships in April, where he lost to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting and took silver.
Both Antonsen and Loh played a significant amount of minutes at the tournament prior to their clash, with the Dane totalling 226 minutes to Loh’s 215.
The Singaporean, in particular, had to get through a gruelling semi-final against world No 4 and top seed Kodai Naraoka just a day before.
Down a game and 4-12, Loh displayed remarkable composure and focus as he beat Naraoka 18-21, 21-16, 21-15. This was Loh’s third career win against Naraoka, who has never beaten the Singaporean.
Loh beat China’s Zhao Jun Peng in the round of 16 and went on to beat Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in a rematch of last year’s Commonwealth Games men’s singles quarter-final.
Loh’s previous best tour finish this year was when he reached the quarter-finals of the India Open and Malaysia Open – both in January. He was eliminated on both occasions by Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
This is Antonsen’s second career win against Loh. The Singaporean beat him en route to being crowned world champion. However, Antonsen would avenge that defeat months later at the All England Open.
The former world No 2 also has been in good form this season, and registered three top-three finishes prior to the Korea Open.