Singapore's Loh Kean Yew beats world number 1 Christie, guaranteed historic Asian Games medal

NAGOYA: Singapore's Loh Kean Yew snapped his winless streak against world number 1 Jonatan Christie in the last eight on Sunday (Sep 27), guaranteeing Singapore a historic men's singles medal in badminton.

At the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, Loh, ranked 13th in the world, beat Christie 21-14, 21-19 to book his place in the semi-finals. This is Loh's first victory over Christie in 11 meetings.

The match's early exchanges were close, with Loh never leading by more than three points and shading things 11-10 at the interval. And the Singaporean looked like a man on a mission as he stayed patient en route to taking the first game.

It was Christie with the better start in the second game, but Loh kept his focus and reeled off seven straight points and snatched a 11-6 interval lead. But the Indonesian was far from out as he clawed his way back to level at 14-14 and then took the lead at 18-16. 

Loh however was not to be denied and stormed back for the victory.

Loh will either face Japan's Kodai Naraoka or South Korea's Yoo Tae-bin for a spot in the final on Monday.

There is no bronze medal match in the competition, with both losing semi-finalists awarded bronze.

Singapore's only Games badminton medal has been the women's team bronze at the 2006 Doha Games.

Loh started his campaign on Saturday by beating world number 14 Lakshya Sen, and then seeing off Malaysia's Justin Hoh in the round of 16.

In the women's singles, Yeo Jia Min's Games campaign ended in the round of 16 after losing to Thailand's Ratchanok Intanon 21-12, 21-16.