23-7-2023 (SINGAPORE) Loh Kean Yew’s bid to capture the Korea Open men’s singles title ended in disappointment after he lost to Denmark’s world No. 16 Anders Antonsen in the final on Sunday (July 23). The eighth-ranked Loh fell in a see-saw clash at the Jinnam Stadium in Yeosu, with the final score of 21-11, 11-21, 19-21. Loh was aiming for his first Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour title since winning the World Championships in 2021.
Antonsen started the match strongly, taking a 5-1 lead, but Loh fought back with a series of trademark jump smashes, taking an 11-10 lead going into the interval. Loh stretched the gap to 16-10 and closed out the first game in 16 minutes. However, the second game saw Antonsen take control, leading 11-6 before comfortably taking the game.
In the decider, Loh took an early lead, surging ahead 7-3, but Antonsen won four consecutive points to level the score before the break. Although Loh managed to reduce his deficit to 12-13, a crucial error allowed Antonsen to extend his lead, and he eventually emerged victorious.
This was Loh’s second final of 2023, having reached the final of the Badminton Asia Championships in April, where he lost to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting and took silver. 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.
Loh had to get through a gruelling semi-final against world No. 4 and top seed Kodai Naraoka just a day before, where he displayed remarkable composure and focus to 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. Antonsen has been in good form this season, registering three top-three finishes prior to the Korea Open.
