A 10-year dream: Former teammate, coach recount Loh Kean Yew’s determination to become world’s best

Watching national shuttler Loh Kean Yew at the badminton world championships over the weekend, a former teammate of the national player was in disbelief when the shuttlecock landed and confirmed the gold-medal win.

Mr Tan Ming Shun, 25, who was in the same programme as Loh at the Singapore Sports School and a former national shuttler, recalled how the youthful player told him 10 years ago that he wanted to achieve the feat of winning the world championships.

At that time, Loh was just 14 or 15 years old, Mr Tan told TODAY on Tuesday (Dec 21). He was Loh's senior by a year in school.

“He mentioned that he wanted to be one of the world’s top players one day and, hopefully, be able to win the Olympics and world championships as well,” Mr Tan said.

Speaking to reporters after landing at Changi Airport on Tuesday, Loh said that although it has been his goal to be the world’s best all along, he had not expected to achieve this feat so soon.

“I didn’t think about whether it was within reach. I just kept focusing on the game and how to play.”

For Mr Tan, now an assistant coach at the Singapore Sports School, his ex-teammate’s win has been “overwhelming”.

“That was something very different about him. He dared to dream at a time when the top players were Lin Dan (from China) and Lee Chong Wei (from Malaysia), and (the other athletes) wondered if we would ever reach that stage.

“But he stayed very focused and believed that one day he would do that.”