Podium finish at Asian Games the target for Singapore's Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min, says coach

Singapore's only Asian Games badminton medal has been the women's team bronze at the 2006 Doha Games.

Singapore's Yeo Jia Min and Loh Kean Yew. (File photo: CNA/Matthew Mohan)

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SINGAPORE: Former world champion Loh Kean Yew does not have particularly fond memories of his Asian Games debut in 2023, but three years on, the 29-year-old has an opportunity to set things right.

"The previous one was a bad Asian Games for me," he told reporters on Wednesday (Sep 16).

"This time going in, I should ... be more experienced in handling the mental stress part. Hopefully I'll be able to do that well and just play my best in every match, one match at a time."

At the 2023 Hangzhou Games, Loh lost to Malaysia’s Ng Tze Yong in the men’s singles round of 32, ending his campaign prematurely.

CNA Games Guess Word Crack the word, one row at a time Buzzword Create words using the given letters Mini Sudoku Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser Mini Crossword Small grid, big challenge Word Search Spot as many words as you can Show More Show Less "I want to do better than the last time," he said. "As athletes, whenever we compete overseas, the goal is definitely to get on the podium. "All we can do is focus on ourselves and give it our all. Whether we can achieve it or not, as long as we've done our best, we'll have no regrets." Loh will be among the four badminton players set to represent Singapore at the Sep 19 to Oct 4 Games in Nagoya, Japan. He will be joined by Singapore's top women's singles player Yeo Jia Min, and the men's doubles pair of Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo. "During the Asian Games, all the top players will be there, so they (Loh and Yeo) will take it one match at a time," said national singles assistant coach Kelvin Ho. "But of course, the target will be the podium. They will fight in every match to try and get a medal for Singapore." Singapore's only Asian Games badminton medal has been the women's team bronze at the 2006 Doha Games.

"I want to do better than the last time," he said. "As athletes, whenever we compete overseas, the goal is definitely to get on the podium.

"All we can do is focus on ourselves and give it our all. Whether we can achieve it or not, as long as we've done our best, we'll have no regrets."

Loh will be among the four badminton players set to represent Singapore at the Sep 19 to Oct 4 Games in Nagoya, Japan.

He will be joined by Singapore's top women's singles player Yeo Jia Min, and the men's doubles pair of Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.

"During the Asian Games, all the top players will be there, so they (Loh and Yeo) will take it one match at a time," said national singles assistant coach Kelvin Ho.

"But of course, the target will be the podium. They will fight in every match to try and get a medal for Singapore."

Singapore's badminton contingent at the upcoming Asian Games comprises (from left) Junsuke Kubo, Wesley Koh, Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min. (Photo: CNA/Matthew Mohan)

In the singles events, world number 13 Loh and world number 45 Yeo will be up against stiff competition.

The vast majority of the world's top singles players hail from Asia, including men's world number 1 Jonatan Christie (Indonesia) and women's world number 1 An Se-young (South Korea).

"There are a lot of Asian players who are very good, and they are all participating in these Asian Games and also preparing themselves to the fullest," said Loh.

"(The men's singles) is so open that anyone can beat anyone on their good days or with a good draw or good fortune."

On the women's singles front, however, An has been a dominant force. The reigning Olympic champion has won seven titles this year.

"Everyone's just trying to catch up because she's always reaching new standards and levels, and we're just trying to see how to find her weaknesses and stuff like that," said Yeo. "So definitely, she's the favourite to win on our end."

It has been a tough year on court for Yeo, who has been stricken by injury. She last competed at the Australian Badminton Open in June, where she had to retire in the round of 16.

"I haven't been participating in the past tournaments because I'm trying to take care of my body first, with the advice of doctors and also my physical trainer. For us, the goal was for me to be ready for the Asian Games. Thankfully, it's been going so far quite well," she said.

"I am definitely not 100 per cent but ... I will definitely be trying to push it to prepare my best."

Yeo added that the goal for her is to play her best and not leave with any regrets.

For Loh, it has been a packed year, which has seen him compete in more than 10 Badminton World Federation tournaments while recovering from injury. Most recently, he was eliminated in the round of 16 at the China Masters.

"Throughout this period, I've been trying to build up my physical strength and body, and I think so far it has been built up quite well. But with this limited time, I'm just doing whatever I can," he said.

Koh and Kubo, a relatively new doubles partnership ranked 42nd in the world, said they are excited to compete.

"It's our first Asian Games together, so I think definitely we are excited, and I think we just want to gather as much experience as we can as a pair," said Koh.

"It's just something new, and we want to just embrace the whole Games and just take as much as we can."

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新加坡在亚运会羽毛球项目上唯一获得的奖牌是2006年多哈亚运会女子团体铜牌。

新加坡的杨嘉敏和罗建耀。（资料照片：CNA/Matthew Mohan）

这段音频是由人工智能工具生成的。

新加坡：前世界冠军罗建耀对他在2023年亚运会的首次亮相并没有特别美好的回忆，但三年过去了，这位29岁的选手有机会弥补遗憾。

“上届亚运会对我来说是一场糟糕的比赛，”他周三（9月16日）告诉记者。

“这次参赛，我应该……在应对心理压力方面更有经验。希望我能做好这一点，在每场比赛中都发挥出最佳水平，一场一场地打好。”

在 2023 年杭州奥运会上，罗在男单 32 强赛中输给了马来西亚选手吴子勇，提前结束了他的征程。

CNA游戏 猜词游戏 逐行破解单词 流行词游戏 用给定的字母组成单词 迷你数独 小谜题，大挑战 迷你填字游戏 小方格，大挑战 单词搜索 尽可能多地找出单词 显示更多 显示更少 “我想比上次做得更好，”他说。“作为运动员，每当我们出国比赛时，目标肯定是登上领奖台。”“我们所能做的就是专注于自身，全力以赴。” “无论最终能否成功，只要我们尽力了，就不会后悔。”罗将与其他四名羽毛球运动员一同代表新加坡参加9月19日至10月4日在日本名古屋举行的亚运会。其他参赛选手包括新加坡顶尖女单选手杨嘉敏，以及男双组合许文龙和久保纯介。“亚运会期间，所有顶尖选手都会参赛，所以他们（罗和杨嘉敏）会一场一场地打，”国家队单打助理教练何凯文说道。“当然，他们的目标肯定是登上领奖台。他们会在每场比赛中全力以赴，争取为新加坡赢得一枚奖牌。”新加坡在亚运会羽毛球项目上的唯一一枚奖牌是2006年多哈亚运会的女队铜牌。

“我想比上次做得更好，”他说。“作为运动员，每当我们出国比赛时，我们的目标肯定是登上领奖台。”

“我们所能做的就是专注于自身，全力以赴。无论最终能否成功，只要我们尽力了，就不会后悔。”

罗将与其他四名羽毛球运动员一起代表新加坡参加 9 月 19 日至 10 月 4 日在日本名古屋举行的运动会。

他将与新加坡顶尖女子单打选手杨佳敏以及男子双打组合许文远和久保纯介一同参赛。

“亚运会期间，所有顶尖选手都会参赛，所以他们（罗和杨）会一场一场地打，”国家单打助理教练何凯文说道。

“当然，他们的目标肯定是登上领奖台。他们会在每一场比赛中全力以赴，争取为新加坡赢得一枚奖牌。”

新加坡参加即将到来的亚运会羽毛球代表团成员包括（从左至右）：久保纯介、许文远、罗建耀和杨嘉敏。（图片：CNA/Matthew Mohan）

在单打比赛中，世界排名第13位的罗和世界排名第45位的杨将面临激烈的竞争。

世界顶尖单打选手绝大多数来自亚洲，其中包括男子世界排名第一的乔纳坦·克里斯蒂（印度尼西亚）和女子世界排名第一的安世荣（韩国）。

罗说：“有很多亚洲选手非常优秀，他们都参加了本届亚运会，并且都在全力以赴地备战。”

“（男子单打）竞争非常开放，任何人在状态好、抽签运气好或者其他任何选手都能击败任何人。”

然而，在女子单打领域，安妍一直占据着绝对优势。这位卫冕奥运冠军今年已经斩获七项冠军头衔。

“大家都在努力追赶她，因为她总是能达到新的高度，我们也在努力寻找她的弱点等等，”叶说。“所以，在我们看来，她绝对是夺冠热门。”

对于叶奥来说，今年在球场上可谓是艰难的一年，她饱受伤病困扰。她最后一次参赛是在6月份的澳大利亚羽毛球公开赛上，但在16强赛中因伤退赛。

“我之前没有参加比赛，是因为我想先好好保养身体，这是听从医生和体能教练的建议。我们的目标是让我做好参加亚运会的准备。谢天谢地，目前为止一切进展顺利，”她说。

“我肯定还没达到百分之百的状态，但是……我一定会尽力调整，争取做到最好。”

叶奥补充说，她的目标是发挥出最佳水平，不留下任何遗憾。

对罗来说，今年可谓是行程满满，他在伤愈复出期间参加了超过10项世界羽联的赛事。最近，他在中国大师赛上止步16强。

“在这段时间里，我一直在努力增强体能，增强体魄，我觉得目前为止效果还不错。但时间有限，我只能尽我所能了。”他说道。

高宝璟和久保建英是一对相对较新的双打组合，目前世界排名第42位。他们表示很兴奋能够参加比赛。

“这是我们第一次一起参加亚运会，所以我们肯定都很兴奋，我们只想尽可能多地积累经验，”高说。

“这毕竟是全新的体验，我们想全身心投入到奥运会中，尽可能多地从中汲取经验。”

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