Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew jumps to world’s number 3 for badminton

For the first time in his career, Singaporean badminton star Loh Kean Yew has broken into the top three of the world rankings.

On Tuesday, November 7, the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) world rankings were released, and the Singaporean climbed to a career-high third place. In the previous week’s edition of the rankings, he was rated fifth.

Dane Viktor Axelsen continues to lead the rankings, followed by Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia.

This is the first time in history that a Singaporean badminton player has reached the top three in the globe.

Prior to 2004, the highest-ranked Singaporean male singles player was Ronald Susilo, who was rated sixth.

In 1994, two-time Olympian Zarinah Abdullah also placed third. She is also the first professional female badminton player in Singapore.

Yeo Jia Min, Loh’s compatriot, is now ranked twenty-first among women.

Most recently, Loh participated at the Hylo Open in Germany, where he reached the quarterfinals before losing to Anthony Ginting of Indonesia.

The Singaporean is still in contention for a spot in the World Tour Finals and will next participate at the Australian Open the following week.