Causing a Racket

After a career-defining year, Singaporean badminton star Loh Kean Yew gets real about the highs and lows that come with playing to be the best

-  Coco Marett.

Loh Kean Yew is having a moment. In November last year, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranked Loh number three in the world—a year earlier, he was 40th on the list. That same month, the Penang-born Singaporean badminton star was named Sportsman of the Year at the Singapore Sports Awards 2022—a title previously won by the likes of Olympic gold medallist swimmer Joseph Schooling and billiards champion Peter Gilchrist.

Then, in December, Loh made his debut at the 2022 BWF World Tour Finals in Bangkok, making him the first Singapore men’s player to qualify for the annual season-ending tournament. Though he ultimately lost to Indonesian player Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, rather than feeling discouraged, Loh says he is more motivated than ever. “I’m still an underdog; there are a lot of people who are better than me,” he says. “I’m taking every match as a learning experience.”

Despite the 25-year-old’s meteoric rise, Loh has not forgotten where he came from. Growing up in Penang, he began playing badminton when he was four with his elder brother Loh Kean Hean, using the gate at the front of their family house as a net. Kean Hean is currently also a professional shuttler, playing for Singapore in the men’s doubles category. “I look up to him and learnt a lot from him. I always wanted to be better than him; that was my goal and I guess I did it,” Loh quips, adding that his brother had always been his “goal and aspiration”.