BWF Denmark Open 2024: Loh Kean Yew dumps out fifth seed Naraoka to progress to last 16
The Singaporean, who is unseeded in Odense, extended his career dominance over Japan's Naraoka to five wins and no losses.
Badminton
Loh Kean Yew just loves playing against Naraoka Kodai.
The Singaporean extended his career head-to-head against Japan's badminton world number five to 5–0 on Tuesday (15 October) with a first-round straight-games win at the Denmark Open 2024 in Odense.
The pair were closely locked in the first game, neither man ever opening up more than a two-point lead until 17-17.
But from there, Loh managed to string four points in a row, which was all he needed to take the opener.
Naraoka then appeared to have the better of Loh in the second, looking fairly comfortable and even having a six-point advantage at 13-7.
But Loh worked hard to close the gap and eventually pegged back against Naraoka, who must be wondering what he needs to do to win against the Singaporean.
Naraoka saved two match points, but eventually could not hold off Loh who completed a hard-fought 21-17, 22-20 win.
The Japanese will probably feel hard done by, but he has not been able to find a way past Loh, who is quickly turning into a bogey opponent, in five meetings.
Loh will next face Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong China.
Meanwhile, men's singles top seed Viktor Axelsen easily dismissed Japan's Tanaka Yushi on Tuesday, winning 21-13, 21-13 in just 40 minutes of play.
Malaysia's third seed Lee Zii Jia was a late withdrawal from the tournament on Monday night after failing to recover from an injury sustained last week.
Beginning with the quarter-finals on Friday, the latter rounds of the tournament will be available to stream live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the official Olympics app (territorial restrictions may apply).