Loh Kean Yew nominated for BWF Male Player of the Year
SINGAPORE — He has already been named Sportsman of the Year at the annual Singapore Sports Awards, as well as the Player of the Year at Singapore Badminton Association Awards earlier this month.
And former world champion Loh Kean Yew could be in line for more honours next month, as he is among three nominees for the Male Player of the Year accolade in the annual Badminton World Federation (BWF) Player of the Year awards for 2022.
The current world No.3 joins world No.1 Viktor Axelsen and No.2 Lee Zii Jia as the shuttlers nominated for the prestigious award, based on performances in the 2021/2022 season from 1 November last year to 31 October this year.
Axelsen will be the favourite to win the award after a stellar year in which he clinched seven BWF World Tour titles, including last year's World Tour Finals.
Loh, on the other hand, claimed the biggest trophy in the BWF World Championships men's singles title last December, becoming the first Singaporean shuttler to win the elite competition. He has, however, not won another title since that monumental feat.
Lee won the Thailand Open and the Badminton Asian Championships in May.
The annual awards ceremony will be held on 5 December, in conjunction with the BWF World Tour Finals 2022 gala dinner in Bangkok. Here are the nominees for each category:
Male Player of the Year: Viktor Axelsen, Lee Zii Jia, Loh Kean Yew.
Female Player of the Year: Akane Yamaguchi, An Se-young, Tai Tzu-ying.
Pair of the Year: Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan, Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai, Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong.
Most Improved Player of the Year: Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, H.S. Prannoy, Jeong Na-eun/Kim Hye-jeong.
Most Promising Player: Kodai Naraoka, Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati, Alex Lanier.
Male Para Badminton Player of the Year: Daiki Kajiwara, Cheah Liek Hou, Lucas Mazur, Chu Man Kai, Pramod Bhagat, Choi Jung-man.
Female Para Badminton Player of the Year: Manisha Ramdass, Nithya Sre Sumathy, Sarina Satomi, Carmen Giuliana Poveda Flores, Manasi Girishchandra Joshi, Pilar Jauregui Cancino.
Para Badminton Pair of the Year: Fredy Setiawan/Khalimatus Sadiyah Sukohandoko, Thomas Wandschneider/Rick Cornell Hellman, Lucas Mazur/Faustine Noel, Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli/Noor Azwan Noorlan, Sarina Satomi/Yuma Yamazaki, Subhan Subhan/Rina Marlina.
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