BWF Denmark Open 2023: Loh Kean Yew through to round two after three-game thriller
World No. 2 Anthony Ginting and Spain's three-time world champion Carolina Marin also advance to round two at the BWF World Tour Super 750 event in Odense, Denmark.
Badminton
Singapore's badminton star Loh Kean Yew staged an impressive comeback to defeat third seeded Naraoka Kodai of Japan 19-21, 21-6, 21-19 on Tuesday (17 October) advancing to round two at the BWF Denmark Open 2023.
It was a welcome victory for the 2021 world champion who suffered a dissappointing round of 32 exit at the Asian Games 2023.
Loh seemed to be in control in the first game leading 19-16 but Naraoka reeled off five consecutive points to wrap up the game.
The second game was a lopsided affair as world No. 9 Loh raced to an 11-4 advantage at the mid-game break and easily took the game 21-6.
The decider went back and forth. Loh was trailing 10-15 but managed to come back and turn things around.
He converted his second match point to seal the win after 80 minutes of play.
This was Loh's fourth win in four meetings against the world No. 3.
Next up is home favourite Anders Antonsen. The Dane who was forced to retire in the semi-finals at the Arctic Open last week, claimed a convincing victory against Nhat Nguyen of Ireland 21-18, 21-13.
Meanwhile, men’s singles world No.2 Anthony Ginting also reached round two for the first time at the Denmark Open ousting Christo Popov of France 21-15, 21-15.
The Indonesian badminton ace was in control throughout the match and did not trail at any stage against the world No. 29.
The Tokyo 2020 men’s singles bronze medallist will next face the winner of the match between Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia and Lu Guang Zu of the People’s Republic of China.
Reigning champion and this year’s Asian Games winner Li Shifeng (China) surprinsingly lost 12-21, 21-6, 21-17 to world No. 26 Toma Junior Popov - the older brother of Christo.
Popov can look forward to an encounter with China's Weng Hong Yang in round two.
World No. 4 Shi Yu Qi of People’s Republic of China progressed to the last 16 following an injury to Ng Ka Long Angus.
Elsewhere, in women’s singles, 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin is through to round two, after her opponent Gao Fang Jie had to retire in the first game due to injury.
Spain’s three-time world champion will next face Sung Shuo Yun of Chinese Taipei.
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu of India beat Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour 21-14, 18-21, 21-10 to set up a meeting with seventh seeded Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the round of 16.
Fourth seeded Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei took a straight games win over Yeo Jia Min and is due to battle it out with face Thai Busanan Ongbamrungphan next.
The BWF Denmark Open 2023 is a Super 750 event with qualifying points for the Paris 2024 Olympics on offer. The tournament concludes on Sunday 22 October, with daily coverage live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app (territorial restrictions apply).