On paper, Loh Kean Yew enjoyed a fairly comfortable straight-games first-round win at the 2025 BWF World Championships.
A 21–15, 21–12 victory secured in 31 minutes against Georges Julien Paul of Mauritius saw the Singaporean through to the last 32 in Paris, France, on Monday (25 August).
But badminton isn’t played on paper. And Loh, the 2021 world champion, admitted he felt rusty on court.
“It took me quite a while [to find my rhythm],” he told Olympics.com after his match, which saw Paul take a 6–1 lead in the first game before Loh rallied back into contention with eight consecutive points.
The second game saw the two locked at 6–6 before, once more, Loh dug deep to pull away.
“I haven’t played a tournament for quite some time, in almost two months, so I had to take quite a while to get into the feel,” the 28-year-old said.
It was anything but straightforward as Paul, who had nothing to lose against the ninth-seeded Loh, never quite let the Singaporean settle into a groove.
“I think it was almost as expected, in a way, because I’ve played him before and it was quite a tight match also, especially in the first set before so I was quite ready for it,” Loh explained.
“Just like I was saying before, I’m not really into the tournament feel — couldn’t get the feeling.”
However, Loh did manage to secure the win, which puts him into the second round against either England’s Harry Huang or Kalle Koljonen of Finland. A potential third-round match awaits against Japan’s Naraoka Kodai, against whom Loh has not lost in six attempts.
But all that would be looking too far forward. The Singaporean is happy to be in the round of 32, and that is his immediate focus.
“Yes, of course,” Loh confirmed laughing when asked if it was a case of taking it round-by-round.
If he’s able to find the rhythm quicker in his upcoming matches, don’t rule out a deep run.
Subject to geo-restrictions, live streaming of selected rounds of the BWF World Championships 2025 is available on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com and the Olympics mobile apps.