Home favourite Loh Kean Yew advances to Singapore Badminton Open semis

SINGAPORE: Loh Kean Yew kept his hopes of winning a first KFF Singapore Badminton Open title alive after he beat Chinese Taipei’s Chi Yu-jen in the men’s singles quarterfinals on Friday (May 29).

At the Singapore Indoor Stadium, the world No 14 won 16-21, 21-6, 21-8 for his first victory against world No 18 Chi in three meetings.

Former world champion Loh will next face Japan’s Koki Watanabe on Saturday. The world No 19 beat India's Lakshya Sen earlier on Friday.

Loh’s result on Friday means that he will at least equal his best-ever finish at the Singapore Open. The 28-year-old reached the semi-finals in 2022, but fell to Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting.

Prior to his clash with Chi, Loh had to dig deep to first beat India’s Srikanth Kidambi and then H S Prannoy in the round-of-16. Both matches went to a decider.

Loh is Singapore’s sole representative in the tournament after first-round exits for Jason Teh, Yeo Jia Min and the men’s doubles pair of Wesley Koh and Junsuke Kubo.