Loh Kean Yew has become the first Singaporean to reach the Asian Games men’s singles badminton final after overcoming South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin in three games at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.
The 29-year-old won 21-19, 19-21, 21-12 in the semi-final, recovering after Yoo levelled the match to secure a place in the championship match against Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
His route has included a quarter-final defeat of Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, then the world No 1, by 21-14, 21-19. That result had already ensured Singapore’s first individual Asian Games badminton medal. According to CNA, Singapore’s only previous badminton medal at the Games had been women’s team bronze in Doha in 2006.
A first Singapore men’s singles finalist
The semi-final was Loh’s latest successful test in a demanding draw. Yoo had arrived in the last four after beating several higher-profile opponents, including China’s Shi Yuqi in the third round, but Loh held his nerve in a tight opening game before reasserting control in the decider.
CNA reported that Yoo had also eliminated Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-yi, China’s Shi Yuqi and Japan’s Kodai Naraoka on his way to the semi-finals. That run gave added context to Loh’s recovery after the South Korean took the second game, with the Singaporean then opening a decisive gap in the third.
The scores underline the changing nature of the contest. Loh edged the first game by two points, lost the second by the same margin, then pulled clear 21-12 in the third. It was enough to make him Singapore’s first Asian Games men’s singles finalist, a distinction that places his run beyond the medal already secured in the quarter-finals.
Loh had said after beating Christie that he needed to remain focused on the next match and recover properly. Following the win over Yoo, he said Kunlavut was a strong opponent and indicated that he would rest, prepare fully and compete for every point in the final.
The achievement is especially notable in the context of Singapore’s previous Asian Games badminton record. The 2006 women’s team bronze had stood as the nation’s sole medal in the sport at the Games, according to CNA. Loh has now moved from ending that individual-medal wait to competing for the men’s singles title.
CNA also reported that there is no bronze-medal match in the men’s singles event, with both beaten semi-finalists receiving bronze. Loh’s victory over Christie therefore guaranteed a medal before the semi-final, while the win over Yoo elevated him into the gold-medal contest.
Kunlavut presents a familiar challenge
Kunlavut reached the final with a 21-13, 21-15 victory over Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan. The match will bring together two former world champions: Loh won the world title in 2021, while Kunlavut was crowned world champion in 2023.
The head-to-head record gives a clear indication of the scale of Loh’s next task. The Star reported that Loh has won two of their 10 previous meetings, leaving Kunlavut with eight victories. That record means Loh will enter the final having to improve markedly on their past results, even after a run which has already included his first win over Christie.
There is, however, evidence from this tournament that Loh has found ways through difficult opposition. Against Christie, he ended a 10-match winless sequence against the Indonesian, having never previously beaten him. He then dealt with Yoo after the South Korean had accounted for a succession of highly regarded opponents.
CNA reported that Loh began his campaign by beating world No 14 Lakshya Sen before overcoming Malaysia’s Justin Hoh in the round of 16. It also reported that those two matches were played within less than 12 hours. The win over Christie followed, before Loh navigated the semi-final against Yoo. The semi-final win took Loh further than any Singaporean men’s singles player had previously reached at the Asian Games.
The final therefore offers Loh the opportunity to turn a groundbreaking Singapore medal into an even bigger result. Whatever the outcome against Kunlavut, his semi-final win has already established a new benchmark for Singaporean men’s singles badminton at the Asian Games.