Loh Kean Yew stuns world number 1 Axelsen at Denmark Open quarters
Loh Kean Yew of Singapore plays a shot against Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand during a badminton game of the men's singles quarterfinal in the BWF World Championships in Tokyo Friday, Aug 26, 2022. (Photo: AP/Shuji Kajiyama)
SINGAPORE: World number 5 Loh Kean Yew stunned home favourite Viktor Axelsen at the Denmark Open quarterfinals in Odense, Denmark on Friday (Oct 21).
In an enthralling match where Loh displayed supreme net play, the Singaporean beat his training partner and world number 1 21-17, 21-10.
This is Loh’s second career win over the Olympic champion, after beating Axelsen in the first round of last year’s Badminton World Championships en route to taking the title.
The Dane was on a 39-match unbeaten streak and had only lost one match this year prior to Loh’s win.
The win means that tournament seventh seed Loh has yet to drop a game in the tournament so far after victories over Sitthikom Thammasin and Kidambi Srikanth.
The 25-year-old will next face Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the semi-finals. Lee beat Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie earlier in the day to seal his spot.
