It is a match-up badminton fans were hoping would materialise during the Olympics.
And it is happening tomorrow (August 3) at 3:05am.
Singapore badminton player Loh Kean Yew is set to meet good pal and reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen from Denmark after the former’s exciting win over China’s world number 6 Li Shifeng.
Kean Yew, 27, triumphed in two sets 23-15, 21-15, making him the first Singaporean to reach the quarter-finals at the Olympics since Ronald Susilo in 2004.
What makes the upcoming match so special is the obviously close bond between Kean Yew and Viktor.
“I’ll be playing against my good friend, but not on the court tomorrow,” says Kean Yew after his match on Thursday.
He further adds that he is “looking forward to the match” and admits Viktor “has a great advantage today, because he is rested” but he is “going to give [his] best tomorrow”.
Though most of us got to to know the pair in 2021 after Kean Yew’s win against Viktor at the 2021 BWF World Championship, the bromance between the two goes way back before that historic match.
Viktor revealed he had specially approached Kean Yew for a month-long training stint in early 2020 after the former had trained for a few days with the Danish team.
In an interesting way, the Dane’s hand of friendship seems to have been a positive influence on Kean’s Yew’s sporting achievements on the international stage.
Both appear frequently on each other’s social media and they are often taking media interviews together with a light-hearted flair.
Even Viktor’s four-year-old daughter seems to have developed a close relationship with Kean Yew and has been known to affectionally call him “Uncle Loh”.
In one video posted to X, Viktor also took a video of Kean Yew napping at the back of his car wishing the latter “Happy birthday!” on Jun 26.
Netizens are just as excited for the upcoming match, many sending both players the best.
One even wrote that, “it feels like 2021 again where Kean Yew is playing as the underdog against Viktor.”
Another christened the upcoming match as “His [Kean Yew] ultimate rival”.
Now, who is staying up to watch these two pals go at it?