Home Hero Loh Kean Yew Storms Into Singapore Open Semifinals
Takuma Ueda of Japan returns a shot to Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei in their qualification match of men s singles during the HSBC BWF World Tour Macau Open Badminton 2018 Tournament in Macau, China, 30 October 2018. Takuma Ueda defeated Chi Yu Jen 2-1 (21-11, 18-21, 21-19). Takuma Ueda eliminates Chi Yu Jen during BWF World Tour Macau Open Badminton 2018 PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxSUIxONLY 20181030_50428
Takuma Ueda of Japan returns a shot to Chi Yu Jen of Chinese Taipei in their qualification match of men s singles during the HSBC BWF World Tour Macau Open Badminton 2018 Tournament in Macau, China, 30 October 2018. Takuma Ueda defeated Chi Yu Jen 2-1 (21-11, 18-21, 21-19). Takuma Ueda eliminates Chi Yu Jen during BWF World Tour Macau Open Badminton 2018 PUBLICATIONxINxGERxAUTxSUIxONLY 20181030_50428
Loh Kean Yew moves a step closer to winning a medal at the KFF Singapore Badminton Open 2026 by defeating Chi Yu-je in the men's singles quarterfinals. With the win at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, May 29, he advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.
The Singaporean shuttler had his first career victory over Chi, improving his head-to-head record against the Chinese Taipei shuttler from 0-2 to 1-2.
Loh, a former world champion, winning the title at the 2021 BWF World Championships, is Singapore's biggest men's singles hope at the tournament.
Loh first had to get past Kidambi Srikanth in the Round of 32 to reach these quarterfinals. He won with scores of 22-20, 19-21, and 21-17. Then he played against HS Prannoy in the Round of 16 and defeated him, too. He closed the match with a score of 21-18, 16-21, 21-15.
With other Singaporean players already out of the draw, defeated, there is a lot of pressure on Loh.
Next up for Loh is Japan's Koki Watanabe, who defeated India's Lakshya Sen 21-19, 15-21, 21-15 in a 68-minute quarterfinal.
Koki, who's ranked world No. 19 on the BWF circuit, played against Loh before and holds a 2-1 head-to-head advantage. The two are set to meet in the Super 750 semifinal on Saturday, May 30.
Loh Kean Yew’s Quarterfinal Performance
Loh was good with his pace in the quarterfinal, but Chi's familiarity with Loh's game based on their past two meetings gave him the upper hand.
They once met in the 2017 Chinese Taipei Open, where Yu Jen won with 15-21, 21-18, and 21-17, and then in the 2025 French Open, where Loh lost again in straight games.
The quarterfinal against Chi Yu-jen settled quickly and managed to close the competitive first set with a score of 21-16.
The second set saw a strong response from Loh. He looked more confident, played his attacking shots well, and kept Chi under pressure. The set ended 21-6.
The third game followed the same pattern, where Loh stayed aggressive. He started dragging the games to keep the pressure on Chi throughout the long rallies. The Singaporean shuttler closed it out 21-8 and won the game.
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Written by
Aadhya Nalla
Edited by
Ankita Yadav