This autographed jersey belongs to Singaporean athlete Loh Kean Yew and is one of 5 identical jerseys issued to Loh for the historic 2021 BWF World Championships men’s singles finals match, in which Loh won the gold medal, becoming the first Singaporean to win the World Championships. Loh, who was ranked world No. 22, attained a surprise win against India's world No. 14 Srikanth Kidambi in a 43-minute final in Spain. Incredibly, this feat was accomplished on a sprained ankle, which Loh had injured during the quarter-final. The injury was further exacerbated during the semi-final just the previous day, 18 December 2021, to such a degree that Loh had to use a wheelchair that night. Despite this, Loh was determined to play in the final and underwent an extensive physiotherapy session for his ankle that night. At the start of the final match, he was afraid to move around normally but as the match progressed, he felt better and eventually clinched the win. Loh rose in the world rankings after this victory, reaching no. 3 in November 2022, just a couple of days before he won the Sportsman of the Year award on 10 November 2022 at the Singapore Sports Awards. He is only the second badminton player to win this award since Ronald Susilo in 2005. More recently, Loh won the silver medal at the Badminton Asia Championships on 30 April 2023 against Indonesia’s world no. 2 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
