Shuttler Kean to take another step
Loh happy to be in main draw and hopes it leads to the 2020 Olympics
After showing great fighting spirit against top players at the Commonwealth Games in April, Singapore national shuttler Loh Kean Yew is hoping that this week's Singapore Badminton Open will be another stepping stone towards his dream of playing in the 2020 Olympics.
At the Gold Coast Games three months ago, the 21-year-old performed admirably, nearly defeating England's Rajiv Ouseph, then ranked world No. 22, in the mixed-team event.
Loh also reached the men's singles quarter-finals, where he lost to current world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei.
Earlier this month, Loh received a shot in the arm by winning the men's singles title in the Mongolia International Series, beating Indonesian veteran Andre Marteen in the final.
PROMOTED
Due to a series of withdrawals at the Singapore Open, Loh, originally a reserve, was promoted to the qualifying draw, where he faces Thailand's Adulrach Namkul today.
Speaking at a pre-event press conference at Mandarin Orchard yesterday, Loh, who is ranked No. 176 in the world, said: "It's very hard to qualify for the Singapore Open with my current ranking, so I feel very lucky.
"I'm just going to play my best and try to go as far as possible, and gain as much experience going against the strongest and best players in the world."
He will be joined in the men's singles by fellow national shuttler Ryan Ng, 20, who also crashed out of the Commonwealth Games quarter-finals, after succumbing to former world No.1 Kidambi Srikanth.
Despite the withdrawals at the Singapore Open, which include women's top seed Ratchanok Intanon and men's seventh seed Tommy Sugiarto, the competition will still see the likes of defending champion Sai Praneeth of India and Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen in action.
Aside from Loh and Ng, the hosts' 17-strong squad also includes women's singles player Yeo Jia Min, the women's doubles pair of Jin Yujia and Citra Putri Sari Dewi , and the mixed doubles pairs of Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Crystal Wong, and Terry Hee and Citra.
Chrisnanta and Wong will meet the world No. 1 mixed pair and Olympic champions Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir if they beat England's Gregory Mairs and Jenny Moore in the first round this afternoon.
With an average squad age of just 20.7 years old, Singapore coach Mulyo Handoyo believes that the Open will provide an excellent learning opportunity for his charges.
He said: "There is no concrete target for the Open, but we hope to look towards the Olympics in 2020."
This year's edition features a total prize pool of US$355,000 (S$483,000).
It is on from today to Sunday at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
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