(TeamSG's Jason Teh celebrates at SBO 2022. Photo Credit : David Wirawan)
12 July : The local contingent gave their badminton-starved fans plenty to cheer about after they made a promising start to their Singapore Badminton Open campaign on Tuesday.
Making its return after a two-year hiatus, the first day of qualifying action at the Singapore Badminton Open saw Singapore’s Jason Teh become only the third Singaporean men’s singles player - after Derek Wong and Loh Kean Yew - to play in the main draw in the past decade.
Jason got the local cheers going early at the Singapore Indoor Stadium after overcoming stiff resistance from Victor Svendsen of Denmark. In the opening match of the men’s singles qualification that lasted more than an hour, the World No.90 had to dig deep to beat the 62nd-ranked Svendsen 24-26, 21-18, 21-14 in their first-ever clash.
Svendsen clinched the first game in a tight battle. However, the Singaporean stepped up the tempo to win the second game, forcing the contest into the decider. The Dane led briefly 11-5 in the deciding game, but Jason staged his comeback, winning nine consecutive points to eventually progress.
It then took another herculean effort for him to see off the challenge from Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei, in his 2nd qualification match almost two hours later. The Singaporean was almost on the brink of exit with Jun Wei holding 7 match points in the decider. But like his opening match against Svendsen, the Singaporean shuttler staged his fightback, clawing back seven points at 13-20 to overturn the deficit and prevail 23-21.
(TeamSG's Jason Teh acknowledges the crowd after his 2nd win. Photo Credit : David Wirawan)
“I was telling myself I do not want to lose for the third time to June Wei. I lost to him twice, so I’m definitely very happy I got my breakthrough against him today,” said the 21-year-old, who is making his Singapore Badminton Open debut this week and faces Indonesia’s Tommy Sugiarto, the World No.35 next.
“I fought for every point today including my opening match against Victor. It was not easy but I kept believing in myself. There are no weak opponents in the main draw. So, I’m not going to put any expectations but rather focus on doing my best and challenge them.”
(TeamSG's Terry Hee and Loh Kean Hean are victorious in opening match at SB0 2022. Photo Credit : David Wirawan)
Loh Kean Hean, meanwhile, joins younger brother and world champion Kean Yew in the Main draw. That's after he combined with Terry Hee to take down India’s Krishna Prasad Garaga and Vishnuvardhan Goud Panjala 21-15, 19-21, 21-17 in 50 minutes in the Doubles.
“It was a huge relief that we managed to win our opening match on home soil,” said Terry. “This is a huge confidence booster for us. We were caught off guard by their change in tactics in the second game, but really pleased to recover in the third game and eventually beat them.” Kean Hean credited the voracious home crowd who spurred them on to victory against the Indians.
He said: “Never underestimate the passionate support from the fans. They really motivated us further to fight for every point and we are indeed grateful to them.”
China’s Weng Hong Yang is also safely through to the main draw where Japan’s Kodai Naraoka awaits. The World No. 50 Chinese won the Korean Open in his first event of the season this year and remains on course for his third World Tour win. That's after dispatching compatriot Sun Fei Xiang 21-16, 21-12 in 37 minutes, before he outplayed Germany’s Kai Schaefer 21-11, 21-14 in his second qualification match.
In the women’s singles qualification, Jordan Hart, who switched her allegiance from Wales to Poland to pursue her badminton ambitions, will face Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min in the main draw after breezing past Egypt’s Doha Hany 21-16, 21-14 in 22 minutes.
In her social media posts, Hart said: “I’m so happy to be able to get my first win at the Singapore Open this morning. It’s my first time in Singapore and I’m simply blown away by this beautiful country after only two hours.”
Olympic gold medallists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin from Chinese Taipei, who were forced to withdraw from the Malaysia Masters last week after being tested positive for COVID-19, returned to the courts for the first time in a week.
Despite not being fully fit, the duo who secured Chinese Taipei’s first-ever Olympic gold medal in badminton at the Tokyo Olympic Games last year, made easy work of the Norwegian pair of Torjus Flaatten and Vegard Rikheim 21-10, 21-14 in 24 minutes.
Said Lee Yang: “We are not feeling 100 per cent physically fit yet and we’re taking each match at a time. We do not want to overexert ourselves too much and hope we can regain our competitive fitness with each passing day.”
Chi-lin added: “The last week was a good opportunity for us to be in isolation and rest. We were trying to conserve our energy so that we can put up a good show for all our fans who have been supporting us.”
The main draw round of 32 begins on Wednesday with the big guns taking the court. Among those set to feature are Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie, India’s Srikanth Kidambi, Singapore’s Loh, Thailand’s Ratchanok Intanon and Chinese Taipei’s top seeds for the men’s and women’s singles Chou Tien-Chen and Tai Tzu-Ying.
Season passes and a number of single-day passes to certain match days, including the semi-finals and finals, are already sold out. However, fans can still choose to purchase single-day tickets to other match days. Single-day tickets start from $5 for children and $30 for adults.
The Singapore Badminton Association (SBA), the event’s organisers, had to make the unprecedented move to open up more tickets for this year’s edition - which will boast more than 6,000 fans since the SBO has been held at the SIS.
Tickets will be available for purchase via Ticketmaster here.
Related Articles
Related Topics
Related Events & Programmes
Related Articles
Related Topics
Related Articles
View AllRelated Topics
[BlogPost 173621256014 Beyond the Finish Line: Scott Driscoll, BlogPost 173619084822 Beyond the Arena: Cheryl & Wan Xiu, BlogPost 173674993214 GetActive! Singapore 2024 Starts This Weekend, BlogPost 173587700339 Champions Behind the Scenes - Steve Chew & Ang Peng Wee, BlogPost 173408820362 Loh Kean Yew: Courtyard Prince to King of the World, BlogPost 170843989107 NSG 2024 Cricket: A Div Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) vs Raffles Institution, BlogPost 173301847816 Champions Behind the Scenes - Eugene Chua, BlogPost 173189703055 Lionesses Roar At Home To Rewrite History, BlogPost 173086728273 Pesta Sukan 2024 – A Call to Unity: Celebrating National Day through Sport, BlogPost 170848336463 NSG 2024 Cross Country: A, B & C Divisions, BlogPost 172711569511 Champions Behind the Scenes - Sng Puay Liang, BlogPost 172691923342 Champions Behind the Scenes - Lilian Chee, BlogPost 172600809048 Brief History of Pesta Sukan, BlogPost 171316266801 Team Behind The Team: Daniel Leow, The Technical Support Powering Max Maeder's Kitefoiling Triumphs, BlogPost 171884846712 Benefits of Brisk Walking: A Simple Step to Better Health, BlogPost 171576345940 Beyond the Finish Line: Jazreel Tan, BlogPost 171319972632 Beyond the Arena: Harry Lim, BlogPost 170174495264 Beyond the Finish Line: Cookie Tan, BlogPost 170154039403 "Start of a journey" as Lions take positives despite 1-3 loss to Thailand, BlogPost 170022978444 Maximilian Maeder: A Rising Star's Journey to Kite Racing Excellence, BlogPost 169756234516 So This Is What a Sold-Out Football Match Feels Like - A Young Team Nila Volunteer’s Perspective, BlogPost 169514603427 Celebrating 10 years of ActiveSG: One of Our Longest-Serving Staff, BlogPost 169257284368 Family-friendly Events and Activities to Check Out This June School Holiday!, BlogPost 80542068826 The Benefits of 60 seconds of Daily Activity, BlogPost 165261427855 NSG 2024 Canoeing: A & B Div Finals, BlogPost 167576213578 NSG 2024 Track & Field: Junior & Senior Div, BlogPost 167338296898 NSG 2024 Golf: Junior and Senior Div Finals, BlogPost 167228868705 NSG 2024 Bowling: Junior Div Finals, BlogPost 165771624850 NSG 2024 Gymnastics: Artistic Gymnastics Finals, BlogPost 168666965514 Beyond the Finish Line: Lim Tong Hai, BlogPost 165892209032 ActiveSG to Introduce New Membership and Booking Platform, MyActiveSG+, in June, BlogPost 166482134692 Celebrating 10 Years of ActiveSG: The Active Couple, BlogPost 80699737258 Never Too Old To Exercise: Here's Why Exercise Is Important For Older Adults, BlogPost 165110344506 NSG 2024 Shooting: A Div Finals, BlogPost 164745983048 NSG 2024 Netball: Senior Div Girls League 3 Preliminary Round, BlogPost 166881350253 Recognising our dedicated Team Nila volunteers: The backbone of MetaSport events, BlogPost 166901832821 Make Every Move Count, BlogPost 166900682547 Moving Together as a Family, BlogPost 166899564391 Moving More at the Workplace, BlogPost 166899010575 Rest and Recovery for Better Performance, BlogPost 165765992196 Celebrating 10 Years of ActiveSG: The Leong Brothers, BlogPost 166480987009 Lion City Sailors Win Community Shield, BlogPost 166480270261 The Kiwis Emerge Victorious in Singapore Leg of HSBC SVNS, BlogPost 165108593509 NSG 2024 Swimming: Junior Div Finals, BlogPost 166207137557 A Sneak Peek Inside Kallang Football Hub's Next-Gen Football Gym, BlogPost 165766451799 ActiveSG Celebrates 10th Anniversary with Islandwide Celebrations, BlogPost 164749641842 NSG 2024 Netball: Senior Div Girls League 3 Preliminary Round 2, BlogPost 163985727414 Beyond the Field: Exciting Sports Careers for Non-Athletes, BlogPost 164438712123 NSG 2024 Badminton: Senior Div Girls Quarter-Finals, BlogPost 164238055490 Evergreen Aleksandar Duric Still Making Headlines at 53]