Yew sets sights on Tokyo Olympics

SINGAPORE: Rising Singapore badminton star Loh Kean Yew has his sights set on a place at the Tokyo Olympics after a stunning victory against Chinese great Lin Dan in Thailand.

The relatively unknown player beat two-time Olympic champion Lin 21-19, 21-18 to win the Thailand Masters at the weekend.

“It is a big breakthrough, I did not really expect it,” the 21-year-old told AFP late Wednesday.

“He’s an experienced player so it was not easy to catch him off-guard.”

Loh shot 48 places up the world rankings, and is now 77th following his victory over Lin, who was the top seed at the tournament in Bangkok.

He will have to finish far higher up the rankings to qualify for a place at Tokyo 2020 — but he hopes to make enough progress in the coming year to do so.

“My goal is to try to qualify for the Olympics, and then of course try to win the Olympic medal,” said Loh.