Loh Kean Yew made a flying start at the BWF World Championships 2026, defeating Canada’s Brian Yang 21-14, 22-20 in straight games in the first round of the men’s singles on Tuesday (18 August) in New Delhi.
The Singaporean badminton standout won the first set of their match 21-14, leading from start to finish.
The 2021 men’s singles world champion cruised to the second round in 43 minutes after wrapping up the last set 22-20, a see-saw battle which saw both men exchange the lead multiple times.
Loh led the second at 13-10 and 14-11, while Yang then took seven of the next eight points to lead 18-15, before the Singaporean fought back and saw out the straight-games win.
A second-round clash against either Lee Cheuk Yiu (HKG) or Nguyen Hai Dang (VIE) awaits Loh.
Indonesia’s world No.3 Jonatan Christie also won his first match beating Matthias Kicklitz of Germany 21-12, 21-14.
Christie’s next opponent will be Teh Jia Heng (SGP) or Fabio Caponio (ITA).
read more: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/bwf-badminton-world-championships-2026-loh-yean-yew-wins-first-round-match-in-india
