Kean Yew settles for bronze in men’s singles

SINGAPORE — Teenage shuttler Loh Kean Yew yesterday showed how badly he wanted to win that elusive men’s badminton singles gold — last won by Singapore’s Wong Shoon Keat at the 1983 SEA Games — putting up a spirited display against Malaysia’s world No 67 Mohamad Arif Abdul Latif in the semi-final.

But the 17-year-old — who had upset second seed Vietnamese Nguyen Tien Minh in the round of 16 — found himself outclassed by his more experienced opponent, losing 22-20, 21-15.

Showing some flashes of brilliance on court, Kean Yew looked set to claim the first game at 20-17, but the Malaysian clawed back to level the score at 20-20 before stealing the win. Kean Yew later squandered a 15-12 lead to lose the second game.

“I wanted so much to win, and I wanted to win quickly ... I put too much pressure on myself and I made a lot of mistakes. I believed I could win, and I was too confident,” said a visibly disappointed Kean Yew.

Kean Yew’s exit meant that Singapore will not be represented on the final day of the SEA Games badminton competition today, with men’s doubles pair Chayut Triyachart and Danny Bawa Chrisnanta having lost 2-0 to Indonesia’s Ricky Karandasuwardi and Angga Pratama in yesterday’s semi-final.

Regardless, Team Singapore’s shuttlers have already exceeded the Singapore Badminton Association’s (SBA) target of two medals at the Games, winning four bronze medals in the men’s and women’s team, men’s singles and men’s doubles.

It is also an improvement from their showing at the 2013 Games, where they returned home with a solitary bronze in the women’s doubles.

“We are pretty happy, and while we would have liked the colour of our medals to be different, our players have put up a good fight,” said SBA chief executive officer Ronnie Lim.

“We were planning to expose our youth players to the SEA Games, and quite a few of them are from the National Intermediate Squad. That’s what we are trying to achieve with our mix of younger and senior players, and it is a good thing going forward for the next crop of young players for the next SEA Games.”

There was also no fairy tale ending for Games debutant Goh Jin Wei of Malaysia in the women’s singles yesterday, as the 15-year-old lost 2-1 to Indonesia’s Hanna Ramadini, who will face Thailand’s Busanan Ongbumrungpan in today’s final.

The men’s singles gold medal match will be an all-Malaysian encounter, with Arif up against compatriot Chong Wei Feng.