Loh Kean Yew is first S’porean to reach Asian Games badminton final, one win from gold

NAGOYA – Loh Kean Yew’s historic run at the Asian Games continues, as he became the first Singaporean to make a badminton final at the event after beating South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin 21-19, 19-21, 21-12 in the men’s singles semi-finals on Sept 28.

The 29-year-old will next face Thailand’s world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who beat Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan 21-13, 21-15, at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Sept 29.

Earlier in the competition, Loh had beaten India’s eighth seed and world No. 14 Lakshya Sen, Malaysia’s 48th-ranked Justin Hoh, and Indonesia’s world No. 1 Jonatan Christie.

Against 1.86m Yoo, who has an 11cm height advantage but was ranked outside the top 100 as recently as September 2025, he could not afford to be complacent. His giant-killing opponent, who is ranked world No. 46, had accounted for Taiwanese Lin Chun-yi (No. 11), China’s world Shi Yuqi (No. 6) and Japan’s Kodai Naraoka (No. 7) in the earlier rounds.

Loh was patient as he searched for openings to counter his opponent’s booming smashes and impressive saves to prevail and secure at least a silver medal.

At his Asiad debut in China three years ago, he went home with no wins and two defeats in the men’s singles and team events.

The only time Team Singapore stood on an Asian Games badminton podium was when the women’s team won bronze in 2006.

In the women’s singles, South Korea’s defending champion and world No. 1 An Se-young continued her seemingly unstoppable run on Sept 28, when she beat China’s fourth-ranked Chen Yufei 21-5, 21-12 for her 55th win in 56 matches – 48 of them in straight games – in 2026.

In the Sept 29 final, the 24-year-old will meet Japan’s world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi, who beat China’s second-ranked Wang Zhiyi 21-11, 22-20 in the other semi-final.

• Dive into all the sporting action and trends in Singapore with ST’s weekly newsletter.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.