Loh Kean Yew beats teammate Jason Teh to reach German Open semi finals

SINGAPORE – The much-anticipated clash between Singapore’s top men’s singles players at the German Open ended without much drama on Feb 28, as world No. 15 Loh Kean Yew beat 26th-ranked Jason Teh 21-10, 21-14 in 35 minutes.

Loh will take on Japan’s 44th-ranked Koo Takahashi on March 1 for a place in the final of the US$240,000 (S$324,000) Super 300 event at the Westenergie Sporthalle in Mulheim. Meanwhile, Teh collected US$1,440 and will next feature at the March 4-9 Orleans Masters in France.

The other semi-final will feature 18th-ranked Frenchman Toma Junior Popov and the winner of the tie between Denmark’s world No. 4 and two-time Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen and Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan (No. 42).

Loh told The Straits Times: “It’s tough playing against a teammate, as we train with each other almost every day and know each other’s game well. I was lucky today with a few net rolls and glad to make the semi-finals, which I’m going to focus on.”

There were interesting subplots before the quarter-final between the Singaporean power hitters – the first international encounter between the duo – which was reminiscent of the battles between former national players Ronald Susilo and Kendrick Lee in 2006 and 2007.

Since making it to the 2024 Paris Olympics quarter-finals, Loh has been on a slump of sorts, winning just five out of 15 matches before the German Open and suffering six first-round exits in Badminton World Federation World Tour events as he slipped out of the top 10.

The 27-year-old did make it to the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open in October and the India Open in January, but has not reached the last four of any tournament since ending a 833-day title drought at the Madrid Spain Masters in March 2024.

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