Indonesia Open: Loh Kean Yew marches into final after ousting Rasmus Gemke
SINGAPORE — Singapore shuttler Loh Kean Yew continued his superb recent form as he took another higher-ranked scalp in reaching the men's singles final of the Indonesia Open in Bali on Saturday (27 November).
The world No.26, who stunned world No.1 Kento Momota in the round of 16 on Thursday, took 42 minutes to defeat Denmark's world No. 13 Rasmus Gemke 21-14, 21-7 in the semi-finals of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 tournament.
Loh becomes the first-ever Singaporean to reach the final of a Super 1000 event since the BWF World Tour began in 2018.
In Sunday's final, the 24-year-old will face arguably the biggest reason why he is on a tear in recent months: world No.2 and reigning Olympic gold medallist Viktor Axelsen.
The Dane had invited Loh to train with him in Dubai for a month after the Tokyo Olympics. Following that stint, the Singaporean's form improved dramatically as he clinched his second World Tour title at the Hylo Open in Germany earlier this month.
Axelsen had booked his final berth after beating Indonesian world No. 6 Jonatan Christie - who eliminated Loh from the men's singles event at the Tokyo Games - 21-19, 21-15 in the other semi-final.
Besides winning the Hylo Open, Loh had also beaten a string of top players in recent weeks, including Taiwan's world No. 4 Chou Tien-chen, Malaysia's All England champion Lee Zii Jia (seventh), Taiwanese Wang Tzu-wei (11th), and India's Lakshya Sen (19th).
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