DUBAI: South Korea’s little-known Lee Yun Gyu was proud of himself after shocking Loh Kean Yew, a former world champion, in a nail-biting men’s singles match at the Blue Ocean Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships kicked off at the Expo City-Dubai Exhibition Centre here on Tuesday.
Gyu’s impressive come-from-behind 10-21, 21-18, 21-15 was the highlight of the opening day as South Korea registered a 5-0 win over Singapore in Group A, in the first session of the day. The 25-year-old Gyu’s win came after Korea had taken a 2-0 advantage thanks to Kim Won Ho and Jeong Na Eun (mixed doubles) and Kim Ga Eun (women’s singles).
“I was nervous before the match as Loh Kean Yew is one of the top players and he plays a high pace game. I tried to match his pace, waited for my chances, and focused on my defensive game. He was making a lot of mistakes today,” said the 239th ranked Korean who has played more International Challenger events last year.
Loh, the world no. 8, too hailed his opponent saying: “Gyu played a good game today. He surprised me with some great shots. I am focusing one game at a time. Hopefully we will have better results tomorrow,” said the Singaporean who also added that the team will have to play some good matches with China waiting in their way.
Learning Experience
The host United Arab Emirates opened their campaign in Group B in the second session amidst a roaring crowd making it to the Dubai Exhibition Centre to cheer for the local team.
UAE though ended the day on the receiving end, losing 0-5 to fourth seeded team Malaysia, but the players left the DEC holding their heads high with one of their biggest experiences.
Much like his team-mates, UAE’s men’s singles player Bharath Latheesh was taking back the positives after playing his first international match.
Latheesh lost to world no. 4 Lee Zii Jia but only after surprising the top shuttler. The UAE player was ahead 11-9 in the second game before Jia levelled the points at 14-all to take away the game and the match 21-12, 21-15.
“I enjoyed playing against him (Lee Zii Jia); he is one of the top players. It was a dream come true. This was my first international competition, and I am going back with a lot of learning experiences. I will have to train more, probably 10 times more than I have been working now.”
Latheesh, who is a IXth standard student at DPS Dubai, has been training three sessions every day at Xtra Academy. "I have been playing in a smaller court. So, it was great experience playing here to know the drift and court condition. I will try hard to do better in the next matches.”
“My biggest dream is to play and win the Olympic gold medal.”
India, China, Japan open with wins
Among the top teams, India was led by Olympic medallist P.V. Sindhu and world no. 9 H.S. Prannoy as they dismantled Kazakhstan 5-0 in a Group B tie. India meets UAE on Wednesday.
“I could see the crowd cheering, so it was a good start. The start is good and I hope we continue the same way whole week. I am playing after a long time, after World Tour finals, that was a good one. Almost after three to four years I am playing here in Dubai. There are a lot of Indians who have come to cheer for us. I hope the cheering will be on every day,” said Sindhu after winning her tie.
“It was a good match. Both the matches started rusty from my side. 2022 has been good for me; lot of consistent performances. This year is an Olympic qualification year so, lot of work needs to be done. The focus is to keep playing well and being healthy,” said Prannoy.
Defending champions China opened with a 5-0 win over Uzbekistan, while Japan saw off Pakistan winning all its matches in Group D.
The group matches continue until Thursday before the knockout stages begin.
Results:
Group A South Korea vs. Singapore 5-0
Group C Indonesia vs. Lebanon 5-0
Group A China vs. Uzbekistan 5-0
Group C Thailand vs. Syria 5-0
Group B: Malaysia vs. UAE 5-0
Group B India vs. Kazakhstan 5-0
Group D: Hong Kong China vs. Chinese Taipei 3-2
Group D: Japan vs. Pakistan 5-0
Group C: Bahrain vs. Lebanon 5-0
Group C: Indonesia vs. Syria 5-0