Saarbrücken: Singaporean Loh Kean Yew claimed the 2021 HYLO Open men’s singles title Sunday 19-21, 21-13, 17-12 after Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia was forced to retire while trailing 12-17 in the decider.
The World No. 8 Lee showed no signs of distress as the Malaysian took the opening set with 21-19. When the Singaporean broke through after 13-13 in the second game, Lee seemed trying to conserve his energy for the third set to concede from the second game 13-21.
However, during the mid-game interval of the third set, Lee called for medical help, and the doctor sprayed some pain relievers on his back. Lee then went back to the court to resume the game. The Malaysian turned to the umpire and indicated he could not go on when trailing 12-17 and the umpire then announced Loh as the winner of the men’s singles final. The whole match lasted 64 minutes, and it’s Loh’s second international title. He defeated Lin Dan of China 21-19, 21-18 in the 2019 Thailand Masters final.
Loh Kean Yew and Lee Zii Jia are not strangers to each other. In a picture found on the internet, they have started playing against each other when they were young.
The victory also saw Loh Kean Yew become the first Singaporean men’s singles shuttler to ever win a BWF World Tour Super 500 event.
In men’s doubles, Indonesia’s World No. 1 pair – Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo enjoyed their first victory since clinching the Indonesia Masters on January 19, 2020.
Gideon/Sukamuljo also known as “the Minions”, played very aggressively on Sunday, kept launching relentless attacks towards their younger compatriots – World No. 35 Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin. Gideon/Sukamuljo ultimately beat the 2019 World Junior Championships boys’ doubles champions decisively 21-14, 21-19 to win the HYLO Open title.
“We are happy to be able to win the HYLO Open, and my teammate also played very well today,” said Sukamuljo after the match.
“We haven’t competed for a long time due to COIVD. That fact that we were able to emerge champions here really gave us a huge motivation,” said Gideon.
The women’s singles final saw Thailand’s World No. 14 Busanan Ongbamrungphan defeat World No. 26 Yeo Jia Min of Singapore 21-10, 21-14 in 35 minutes.
“It’s been a very long trip since the Sudirman Cup in Finland, my body is very tired, but I am still able to keep my focus,” said Ongbamrungphan.
In an all-Japanese women’s doubles final, Chisato Hoshi/Aoi Matsuda of Japan saved 4 game-point in the first game to win 22-20 against Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi. Hoshi/Matsuda also came back from 12-17 down to win the second game 21-18.
Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai picked up the second title for their country on Sunday when they outlasted Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti 22-20, 21-14 in the mixed doubles final. This was also Puavaranukroh/Taerattanachai’s fourth title of the year, after winning the YONEX Thailand Open, Toyota Thailand Open, and BWF World Tour Finals in January of 2021.
