Preparing for Paris: What it's like to train with Singapore's Olympic-bound badminton star Loh Kean Yew

SINGAPORE: The work never stops for Singapore badminton player Loh Kean Yew.

A day before our scheduled joint training session in early May, I was told the 2021 world champion was nursing a slight injury which could disrupt plans.

Disappointed? Undoubtedly so. Yet there was a slight sense of relief. Perhaps I had dodged a bullet, or in this case a 400kmh shuttlecock.

But fast-forward 24 hours and I was lying on the floor at Bukit Canberra Sport Hall.

We had trained at about 50 per cent of Loh's usual intensity, but I was close to 100 per cent exhausted.

With about two months till the Paris Olympics, Loh is in the final stretch of preparations.

The Singaporean booked his ticket to the Games after finishing twelfth in a “Race to Paris” ranking system for the top 16 singles players to secure spots for their countries. 

Now the goal is to propel himself up the rankings to obtain a favourable seeding for the Olympics. To do so, the plan is to compete in a number of upcoming tournaments including the Singapore Open and Indonesia Open.

It has been a year of ups and downs for Loh.

While he ended his 883-day wait for a title, there were also a few first-round exits for the Singaporean, most recently at the Thailand Open as well as Malaysia Masters.

The 26-year-old is also coping with a long-term shoulder issue which worsened in the last one to two months.

Given this "minor injury", national men’s singles head coach Kelvin Ho told me that he's adjusted Loh’s training to dial down the intensity yet ensure he stays sharp.

After a series of warm-up exercises tailored to Loh's needs as well as to help work on his shoulder, we started with a sparring session with members of the Singapore national training squad.

While Loh typically works with