Loh Kean Yew credits inspirational teammate Yeo Jia Min for his win
Singapore's Loh Kean Yew set up a Round-of-16 meeting with world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen after a gruelling 18-21, 21-13, 21-11 win over France's Thomas Rouxel at the BWF World Championships yesterday.
Loh, 22, displayed plenty of grit to secure the comeback victory over his 28-year-old opponent at the St Jakobshalle arena in Basel, Switzerland.
The world No. 34 revealed after the match that fellow Singaporean Yeo Jia Min's upset win over world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi in the Round of 32 of the women's singles on Tuesday had inspired him.
Said Loh: "Jia Min's win was also inspiring and motivation for my match, as it shows me that anything is possible if we keep fighting.
"I will bring this mindset into my next match against Chou."
Loh had to summon tremendous self-belief to prevail against Rouxel, who had beaten him 18-21, 21-16, 21-14 at the German Open in February.
The Singaporean, who defeated India's world No. 14 Sameer Verma on Tuesday, trailed for much of the first game against the Frenchman.
Relying on a mix of powerful smashes and quick net-play, Loh clawed his way back into the game and managed to level at 18-18, following a 23-shot rally.
But Rouxel reeled off three consecutive points to seal the game 21-18 in 30 minutes.
TURNING POINT
The second game started off ominously for Loh, with world No. 54 Rouxel leading 7-5 after a 38-shot rally.
But Loh turned on the after-burners, levelling the game at 9-9 before establishing a lead that he never relinquished as he prevailed 21-13.
The momentum was firmly with Loh from then on, as he sealed the third game 21-11.
Chou, Loh's next opponent, was relatively untroubled as he defeated Croatia's Zvonimir Durkinjak 21-14, 21-10 yesterday.
Singapore Badminton Association president Lawrence Leow was pleased by Loh's win.
He said: "It is great to see our youngsters progressing in this World Championships.
"Kean Yew will be facing world No. 2 Chou Tien-chen, hence this win over Thomas, who had beaten him in their last meeting at the German Open earlier this year, is important.
"It will give him the confidence needed when facing such a strong opponent.
"A lot of Singaporeans are rooting for Kean Yew and Jia Min. I have been receiving many encouraging messages since this morning."
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