KUALA LUMPUR – In a stunner, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew took down world number one shuttler Viktor Axelsen on his home turf, winning 21-17, 21-10 in the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open.
Having lost four of their previous encounters, former world champion Kean Yew defeated the Danish Axelsen in just 30 minutes at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense.
Kean Yew, who is ranked fifth, ended Axelsen’s astounding 39-match-win streak and is only the second player after India’s Lakhsya Sen to defeat the current world champion.
He will now take the court against world number three Lee Zii Jia in the semi-finals today, after the national shuttler won against Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-16, 18-21, 21-18 in the quarter-finals.
World number three Zii Jia began his Denmark Open campaign by taking down Frenchman Mark Caljouw 21-15, 21-10, and made quick work of Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 21-5, 21-19 in the following round.
Zii Jia has won four of the past six meetings between the pair, with the recent wins coming at the Indonesia Open and Badminton Asia Team Championships earlier this year.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik also made it into the semi-finals today after they won against India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 21-16, 21-19.
In the second round, the top national pair took just 31 minutes to win against French pair Lucas Corvee-Ronan Labar 21-13, 21-18.
The reigning world champions will face Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo next.
They’ll be joined by the national men’s doubles team Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, who will meet Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in the semi-finals.
Mixed-doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Lai Shevon Jemie defeated Yuta Watanabe-Arisa Higashino 21-18, 21-14, and will now go up against China’s Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong in the semi-finals. – The Vibes, October 22, 2022
