Loh Kean Yew falls to Kunlavut Vitidsarn in Asian Games final, ends campaign with silver
Loh’s silver is the best result by a Singaporean badminton player at the Asian Games.
Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew in action against Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn during their men’s singles badminton final match at the 2026 Asian Games at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium on Sep 29, 2026. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
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NAGOYA: Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew took silver in the Asian Games badminton men’s singles after losing to Thailand’s world number one Kunlavut Vitidsarn on Tuesday (Sep 29).
At the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, Kunlavut beat Loh 21-12, 21-16 in the final. Kunlavut was ranked second behind Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) men’s singles rankings last week, but rose to world number 1 at the start of Tuesday.
“He’s a very strong opponent and a very tough one to beat. Today he played very well as well, so huge credits to him,” said Loh.
“Happy to get a silver medal, to create history and all. I’m happy about it, but at the same time, it is a bit sad that I couldn’t get the gold medal as well.”
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Loh, ranked 13th, became the first Singaporean to win a badminton silver at the Asian Games. Before these Games, Singapore’s only medal in the sport was a women’s team bronze at Doha 2006.
He entered Tuesday’s final with a 2-8 head-to-head record against Kunlavut, although Loh had won their most recent meeting in January.
“I didn’t really think so much about (Kunlavut becoming world number one),” said Loh. “I just prepared myself and tried to fight for each point.”
The Thai won the men’s singles world title in 2023, and followed that up with an Olympic silver a year later. He also beat Loh in the men’s singles final at the SEA Games in 2022.
Unseeded at the Games, Loh had been in excellent form throughout the competition.
He started his campaign on Saturday by beating world number 14 Lakshya Sen before seeing off Malaysia’s Justin Hoh in the round of 16.
His breakthrough came in the quarter-finals, when he snapped a 10-match winless streak against Christie to guarantee Singapore its first Asian Games badminton medal in 20 years.
Loh then beat South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin in 69 minutes in the semi-finals to book his place in Tuesday’s final.
“Not getting a gold medal is obviously a sad thing, but overall, I think I played well. And to be able to create history for Singapore is an achievement as well,” said Loh.
“To be able to represent Singapore, to be part of the Asian Games team, that is always a privilege. And I’m very happy to be part of the team.”
Catch the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games live or on-demand on mewatch! Visit mewatch.sg/asiangames for details, and follow Mediacorp Sports on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates and trending content!
Source: CNA/mt
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