2002 was also the year when Ronald Susilo – Singapore’s biggest badminton household name in the last two decades – donned Singapore national colours for the first time on the big stage nine years after arriving in Singapore to study at ACS (Independent) at 14.
FOCUSING ON GROOMING TALENT AT A YOUNG AGE BETTER STRATEGY
Loh’s victory unlocks an interesting pathway of success for Singapore badminton in the coveted men’s singles event and suggests the Singapore Badminton Association’s pivot from the Foreign Talent Scheme towards youth development since 2014 is paying off.
Susilo, who achieved a career high ranking of world number six in 2004, had spent his youth honing his craft by playing in Singapore interschool tournaments and local championships, very much like Lee and other local stars who made it through the ranks and Loh is simply next in line.
Lee retired in 2008 and Susilo followed several years later. Lee never got past the second round at the World’s, while Susilo’s best result was a quarter final finish at the 2007 edition, which was also the last time he competed in the event.
Now, Loh was 13 when he arrived in Singapore from Penang in 2010 after receiving a scholarship from the Singapore Sports School to study and train as a student-athlete.
Like many promising Malaysian shuttlers, he was also offered a spot at the Bukit Jalil Sports School in Kuala Lumpur that has groomed numerous world class athletes for the nation.
In an unlikely move encouraged by the family of fellow Penangite-turned-Singaporean shuttler Terry Hee, his parents seized the opportunity for their son to be relocated across the Causeway to join older brother, Kean Hean, who had arrived a year earlier to study at Montfort Secondary School, known for having a steep local badminton tradition and success.
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