Loh brothers go Dutch on title wins in Netherlands
National shuttler Loh Kean Yew has won his first international tournament in two years after beating top-seeded Indian Lakshya Sen 21-12, 21-16 in 36 minutes to claim the Dutch Open singles title at the Topsportcentrum Almere yesterday.
It proved a memorable day for the Loh family as his older brother Kean Hean and Terry Hee beat Malaysia's sixth seeds Tan Wee Kiong and Tan Kian Meng 21-14, 18-21, 22-20 to win the doubles crown.
For winning his sixth international title, and his first since 2019 when he memorably beat the legendary Lin Dan in the Thailand Masters final, Loh also picked up a cheque for 1,200 euros (S$1,900).
"This is big motivation and I'm really happy to achieve my target of making it to the final and winning the competition because I really want to gain more points to climb up the world rankings, which will help me play in bigger tournaments," said the 24-year-old, who had lost to Sen in their only other encounter in the second round of the 2019 China Masters.
This is also the world No. 41's first tournament since his Tokyo Olympics group-stage exit in July, and he displayed a high level of court management and an impressive array of decisive set-ups, smashes and drop shots to put world No. 25 Sen on the back foot and complete the tournament without dropping a game.
Loh said: "It was not as easy as it looked, especially in the earlier rounds because I took time to get used to the environment and lighting. The seats were white, which clashed with the shuttlecock's colour, but it got better when more fans came towards the end of the event."
Loh will remain in Europe to play in three more tournaments - the Denmark Open, French Open and Hylo Open in Germany - before heading to Indonesia for two events and then back to Spain for the World Championships in December.
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