Loh Kean Yew falls to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn, takes Badminton Asia Champs bronze
The Singaporean world number 17 lost 21-23, 10-21 to the world number five in the men’s singles semi-finals.
Loh Kean Yew finished with a bronze in the Badminton Asia Championships. (File photo: Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre)
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SINGAPORE: A familiar foe in the form of Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn was former world champion Loh Kean Yew's undoing on Saturday (Apr 12) as he was eliminated from the Badminton Asia Championships.
At the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, the Singaporean world number 17 lost 21-23, 10-21 to the tournament third seed and world number five in the men’s singles semi-finals.
The Thai will face China's Lu Guangzu in the final, while Loh finishes with a bronze.
Kunlavut has a 6-1 head-to-head record against Loh, who last beat him a decade ago. At the pair's last meeting at the 2024 Indonesia Open, the Thai took the victory in straight games.
It was Loh who got off to the stronger start of the two as he racked up a 7-2 lead. But the Thai stayed patient through a number of long rallies and went into the interval behind by only one point.
A number of errors from Loh let Kunlavut back into the game and he would take a commanding 18-15 lead. While the Singaporean showed good mental fortitude to take the game to 20-20, he could not hang on.
"Honestly, he was playing amazing badminton in the first game but he made an attacking mistake at the critical point of 21-20 which allowed Kunlavut to clinch that game," said national singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun.
It was the Thai's turn to get off to a strong start in the second as he took a 11-4 interval lead and saw Loh off with relative ease.
The two are no stranger to each other's game, having trained together on a number of occasions, most recently last month. The 2023 world champion, Kunlavut clinched silver at the 2024 Olympic Games.
"In the second game, he lost his focus and made too many mistakes. We have to keep working on controlling that on-off switch in the next few tournaments and be more consistent," said Kim.
We will keep improving on Kean Yew’s net skills and overall fitness so that he can last the distance in three-game matches.”
Loh's best finish in the Badminton Asia Championships was a silver in the 2023 edition where he lost to Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the final.
“Kunlavut had better control of the wind and shuttle condition today, especially in the second game. Overall I think I did well for this tournament but there are also a lot of areas to work on and to improve," said Loh.
"I’ll go back and reflect, and work hard again with coach Kim to prepare for the next tournament.”
Prior to his clash with Kunlavut, Loh had upset world number 1 and top seed Shi Yu Qi 21-19, 13-21, 21-16.
Kim added that it is important that Loh "rediscovers" the love for playing badminton.
"I was telling him to enjoy the match because he has been working very hard at training camp in Thailand and to now live in the moment. He has given everything he’s got in this tournament getting to the bronze medal and I am proud of that achievement," she said.
