Loh Kean Yew goes the distance again to snatch Singapore Open semi-final spot

SINGAPORE – A T-shirt slogan from his new line of merchandise reads “Smash beyond limits”.

On May 29, Loh Kean Yew exemplified the catchphrase with a splendid comeback as he edged closer to making a breakthrough at the US$1 million (S$1.3 million) KFF Singapore Badminton Open.

The world No. 14 matched his best performance at his home open, which he achieved in 2022, with a 16-21, 21-6, 21-8 victory over Chinese Taipei’s 18th-ranked Chi Yu-jen in their 55-minute men’s singles quarter-final.

It was the third time in successive days he had gone the distance and won, much to the delight of the deafening 6,260-strong crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Loh said: “I’m happy to win in a Super 750 quarter-final, and it makes it even more meaningful to win in Singapore.”

Against Chi, a fellow 28-year-old who was born a day earlier and won their only two previous meetings, Loh made an edgy start and committed numerous unforced errors to see his 8-6 lead turn into an 8-14 deficit which he could not recover from.

Though he has a fine record of nine wins against two losses in matches that require a third game in 2026 before this, even Loh was surprised he would concede just 14 points in the next two games as he was allowed to return the body shots he endured in the opener with interest.

After a long rally featuring spectacular saves ended with Chi hitting long to make it 17-4 for Loh in the decider, both players smiled knowingly at each other as if to acknowledge who the better player was.

Loh said: “Yu-jen is a very good player who is very consistent and stable, and it was even more difficult playing with the draught on my side.

“The game is all about tactical changes and trying to restrict the opponent and we were both changing stuff here and there. I didn’t expect the scoreline in the last two games, but I was focused on giving it my all.”

A gracious Chi responded: “Kean Yew was able to ride on the home support and great atmosphere to play better as the match went along, so congratulations to him.

“I felt quite tired after my strenuous second-round match (a three-game win over fourth-ranked Frenchman Christo Popov) that ended late yesterday. I didn’t recover well and was slower from the second game onwards today.

“In the third game, I couldn’t find a way to deal with his pace.”

After his first win in three attempts against Chi, Loh will continue his bid to become the first Singaporean to win this tournament in 16 years. He faces Japan’s 19th-ranked Koki Watanabe in the last four on May 30.

Loh has played the 27-year-old Watanabe, who beat India’s world No. 10 Lakshya Sen 21-19, 15-21, 21-15 in another quarter-final, five times.

While he trails 2-3 in their head-to-head record, he overcame the Japanese player in three games in their previous encounter at the Badminton Asia Championships in April.

The other men’s singles semi-final will feature Frenchman and world No. 9 Alex Lanier, who outlasted Denmark’s third-ranked Anders Antonsen 14-21, 21-16, 21-16, and Indonesia’s 13th-ranked Alwi Farhan, who beat Japan’s world No. 11 Kodai Naraoka 21-12, 21-17.

This means all eight men’s singles seeds are out of the competition, presenting Loh with a golden opportunity to go all the way.

But he was not about to get ahead of himself, saying: “I’ve maintained that anyone can beat anyone within the top 50.

“There are no easy matches, so I’m going to take it one match at a time and stay focused and prepare myself to the fullest.”

The last locals to win at the Singapore Open were Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei, who clinched the women’s doubles title in 2010.

Wee Choon Seng was the last Singaporean to win the men’s singles title in 1962.

Loh has had a patchy season.

He made a solid start to 2026, reaching two semi-finals and defeating several of his bogeymen – Thailand’s world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, Japan’s 17th-ranked Kenta Nishimoto and Sen – while also winning eight out of 11 matches.

But, from March, he lost four of his next seven matches, slipped out of the top 10, and was nursing a foot injury before his latest resurgence.

At the Singapore Open, he beat world No. 37 Srikanth Kidambi and 35th-ranked H.S. Prannoy of India before his victory over Chi. All these victories went the distance, taking Loh’s record in matches that require a decider in 2026 to 10-2.

In the women’s singles, the top four seeds advanced into the May 30 semi-finals.

South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young will take on China’s defending champion and world No. 4 Chen Yufei, while China’s second-ranked Wang Zhiyi faces Japan’s third-ranked Akane Yamaguchi.