Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew (Men’s Singles), Yeo Jia Min (Women’s Singles) and Koh Eng Kai/Tan Wei Han (Mixed Doubles) will compete in the BWF World Tour, which is held at home only once a year. As the host players, they have always played a good role in entertaining foreign players from afar.
The Singapore Open Badminton Championships (Super 750) will be held on Tuesday (May 28) and the draw has been released. World No. 12 Loh Kean Yew will face Chinese player Lu Guangzu (world No. 19) in the first round; World No. 18 Yeo Jia Min will face Chinese player He Bingjiao (world No. 8) in the first round; and World No. 17 Heo Yongkai/Tan Wei Han’s opponent is the Korean world champion combination Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yujung (world No. 4).
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Loh Kean Yew said that he had taken players from Canada, Brazil and Taiwan to eat local delicacies such as frog porridge, skewers and wonton noodles.
He laughed and said: “I only started taking foreign players out to eat last year. I was not free until the semi-finals the year before. Before that, there were no games due to the epidemic. Before the epidemic, no one knew me.”
Last year, Loh Kean Yew took many young Taiwanese players out to eat skewers, including men’s singles players Lin Junyi (world No. 15), Wang Ziwei (world No. 22) and Li Jiahao (world No. 32), while the Brazilian and Canadian players ate frog porridge.
On the court, they are opponents competing for a place in the qualifying round, but off the court, they learn from each other and are friends who make progress together. Before the start of this Singapore Open, Loh Kean Yew trained with the French Popov brothers, Lin Junyi and Belgian player Karaj. Loh Kean Yew also shared on Instagram on Sunday (26th) that he took Canadian players Yang Chan (Men’s Singles, World No. 25) and Yagura Neil (Men’s Doubles, World No. 35) to eat wonton noodles.
Loh Kean Yew continued: “It will definitely enhance friendship, but don’t treat it as a task that must be completed. If that were the case, I would not be able to entertain all the guests because I am the only local men’s singles player playing in the Singapore Open.”
Last year, Yang Jiamin, the country’s top female singles player, took her Thai friend Li Miaomiao (world No. 19) and her coach to eat JUMBO Seafood’s chili crab. She is looking forward to taking more friends out to eat. In addition, she will also give them some local snacks.
Singapore’s mixed doubles pair Xu Yongkai/Tan Wei Han have also done this. They have taken their foreign friends to eat Hokkien noodles and chili crab. Last year, they hosted former Thai world champion Dechapol.
Chen Weihan said: “Most of the players are friends off the court. I think this is the meaning of sports, to bring everyone together.”
2024-05-26 10:56:28
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