Loh Kean Yew exclusive: 2021 world champ on shutting out critics and how marriage has changed his badminton
The Singaporean badminton star tells Olympics.com about trying to right his form, how his secret marriage changed his approach, and why Cristiano Ronaldo inspires him even though he's not a big football fan.
Loh Kean Yew went from relative obscurity in Singapore to a nationally recognised superstar nearly overnight in December 2021 when he became the island country's first badminton world champion.
However, with the explosion in his popularity came a less-welcome side: increased criticism from people who had never even followed him before with every bad result that came his way.
Especially given, as the 26-year-old willingly admits in an interview with Olympics.com at the 2024 French Open, he has been in an extended period of inconsistent form.
"I think it's not only recently, but more of this whole year of qualification period, I think there were a lot of ups and downs," Loh told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview. "Of course it would be better to be more consistent on the good part, but having ups and downs is normal and we just keep trying our best to try to do better every time.
"People can say whatever they want and it's not going to be possible to actually cancel out their noise," he sagely reflects. "So I'm just trying to focus on myself and I just do what I do everyday, and I just keep trying to be better and keep improving myself."
With much of the criticism coming from sometimes-anonymous trolls on social media, Loh says he tries not to pay too much attention.
"I just post and I don't go [back] and look at it much," he explains. "I still scroll Instagram just for fun, to wind down and have some me time, but for comments I don't really look at it."
Loh Kean Yew: Married life giving him 'more hunger' and how he unwinds off court
It was on that very social media platform that Loh dropped a bombshell during the badminton off-season in December: he had gotten engaged, and then married, away from public – and media – knowledge.
The Malaysian-born shuttler has worked hard to keep his personal and sporting lives separate, with few hints as to the identity of his spouse.
"I've been married for almost a year now, it's just that I've kept it a secret," he explained. "Obviously the commitment and responsibility is much more now. I want to do better for the sake of my wife and my family."
That, he says, is the biggest change being a married man has made to his badminton.
"I always want to do good on the court, [but] at the back of the mind now, I'm not single anymore: I have a family; I need to support my family, et cetera. So from within it's just getting hungrier [to do well]."
His wife and friends, he adds, keep him occupied in his spare time when he isn't busy training or competing.
"I'm fun when I'm with friends, but I choose to be by myself a lot of time because I enjoy my me time; I don't mind being just by myself.
"Off the court, I usually just talk to my wife, I scroll my phone, or I just read manga. Mostly this and also do some work."
Why Cristiano Ronaldo inspires Loh and his dreams of Paris
Loh says that despite not being a big follower of other sports, he considers himself a fan of football megastar Cristiano Ronaldo, who he has learned certain things from.
Managing his fitness, for example, given the gruelling travel Loh faces competing around the globe on the BWF World Tour circuit.
"Since [I was] young, I don't really watch any other sports or any TV, videos," Loh says. "But I like how Ronaldo plays and even until now, he's still very fit and a very good example I would say, even at his age. So yeah, I'm still looking up to him."
If Loh qualifies for this summer's Olympic Games Paris 2024, he is set to make his second appearance at the Olympic Games.
Once ranked as high as third in the world, Loh now finds himself ranked 12th in the world. The top 14 qualified players will be seeded at the Games for the group stage, and in theory be drawn against two 'weaker' players ranked below them.
Like many others on the verge, Loh says focusing on qualifying in that top 14 is the priority. "I'm hoping to get the seeding first," he confirms.
"And then if I get a good seeding, then obviously I will be grouped [against] the non seeded, right, and then probably we'll see the luck of the draw from there.
"Of course I hope to do much better than before," Loh adds in reference to his outing at Tokyo 2020 in 2021, when he was drawn as an unseeded player in a group including Indonesia's Jonatan Christie.
"I'm actually quite looking forward to experiencing it, because in Tokyo, I'd finally made it to the Olympics but everything was so different. Even on court when we played, it was silent.
"So I hope this time will be a good one."