Three On Speed

Blue, the hue of confidence; white, the fresh state of mental clarity; and black, the shade of power and strength — the colours form the Lab Series Rescue Water Series while their connotations represent these three sportsmen’s way of life.

- Bryan Goh

LOH KEAN YEW

National Badminton Player, @lohkeanyew

What have you been up to? I’ve been training six days a week with double sessions on four of those days. A few competitions have been cancelled. I was actually training for one that’s slated for September in Taipei.

Has every win tasted sweeter than the last? Definitely my 2019 win against Lin Dan in the Thailand Masters — the most memorable for me.

What was the most important lesson you’ve learnt from one of your wins? Whenever I lose, I usually chalk it up to my impatience so I’ve learnt to have patience and to never give up. Once you give up, you’ll lose without even trying. Every win for me has been a game in patience.

What would you like to tell your seven-year old self who was bullied for playing the sport? They can’t bully me for long! [Laughs] The most responsible answer would be for him to fight back and challenge them.

Is there a cause you’d like to champion? I hope that I can bring the joy of playing badminton to Singaporeans and people around the world. It really is a healthy sport because a lot of cardio, muscle building and eye-to-hand coordination is involved.

What do you hope for in the future? An Olympic gold — something I’ve aspired to achieve since I was young. Hopefully, I can also consider retirement to spend more time with my family once I end my career but it probably means that I need to win a lot of competitions like Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia! [laughs] I’m most likely ending my career once I’ve gone to two to three Olympic games. Singapore Olympic badminton players usually just go to two games so I’d like to be the person who creates history.