Two finals, two losses for Singapore’s badminton players in Vietnam Open

Singapore’s Jason Teh (in orange) standing next to Vietnam Open winner Aidil Sholeh of Malaysia on Sept 13.

PHOTO: SINGAPORE BADMINTON ASSOCIATION

Published Sep 13, 2026, 08:59 PM

Updated Sep 13, 2026, 10:18 PM

Singapore’s Jason Teh lost the Vietnam Open men’s singles final in straight sets to Malaysia’s Aidil Sholeh, marking a challenging 2026 season after a strong 2025.

Singapore’s men’s doubles pair Terry Hee and Howin Wong were defeated by Taiwanese duo Chen Zhi-ray and Lin Yu-chieh in straight sets during only their third tournament together.

Hee and Wong expressed determination to improve their teamwork and strategy, seeing the final appearance as a confidence boost and learning opportunity for future competitions.

SINGAPORE – Singapore’s campaign at the Vietnam Open ended in heartbreak on Sept 13, as both singles player Jason Teh and the men’s doubles duo of Terry Hee and Howin Wong stumbled in their respective finals.

Teh, who was looking to secure just his third title on the Badminton World Federation World Tour, was defeated in straight games by Malaysia’s 91st-ranked Aidil Sholeh. At the Nguyen Du Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, the 26-year-old suffered a 21-16, 21-14 loss.

Teh said after the defeat: “I think my opponent played a good game today, I couldn’t keep up with his attack. I could have done better in terms of my defence.”

The US$120,000 (S$152,000) Vietnam Open is a Super 100 event that is on the lower tier of the World Tour.

In the earlier rounds, world No. 33 Teh beat India’s Manraj Singh (113rd), China’s Wang Zijun (173rd) and Korea Masters champion Zhu Xuanchen (47th), before overcoming India’s H. S. Prannoy (40th) in the semi-finals.

Despite reaching the final, Teh added that he was “not satisfied because I really wanted to win”.

He said: “I just need more training because I have been dealing with injuries. Up next will be the Europe tour. I hope I can perform better for my upcoming tournaments.”

Teh enjoyed a breakthrough 2025 season that saw him win the Thailand Masters and Korea Masters for his first two titles on the BWF World Tour during a period where he also reached a career-high world No. 19.

But 2026 has proven to be a challenge.

Before his run to the Vietnam Open final, he won just 11 out of 30 matches and suffered nine first-round exits in 15 World Tour events in 2026, falling out of the top 30 and missing out on the Sept 19-Oct 4 Asian Games.

His only title came in March, in the Polish Open which is an International Challenge event below the World Tour.

In the earlier women’s singles final, Sarunrak Vitidsarn of Thailand defeated India’s Isharani Baruah 21-8, 21-15 in 34 minutes.

Singapore’s Terry Hee (left) and Howin Wong are optimistic about their new partnership after finishing runners-up at the Vietnam Open on Sept 13. PHOTO: SINGAPORE BADMINTON ASSOCIATION

Singapore’s Terry Hee (left) and Howin Wong are optimistic about their new partnership after finishing runners-up at the Vietnam Open on Sept 13.

In the men’s doubles final, Hee and Wong were also beaten in straight games, as 32nd-ranked Taiwanese pair Chen Zhi-ray and Lin Yu-chieh won 21-14, 21-12 to clinch the title.

This was only the third tournament for the Singaporean pair since teaming up. Although they took a 14-10 lead in the opening game, their opponents reeled off 11 consecutive points to win 21-14.

Reflecting on the match, Wong, 25, said: “Our start was good until the middle of the game, where they changed strategy and we lost quite a bit of points. We’ll have to learn how to readjust our strategy quickly moving forward.

“Playing alongside an experienced senior like Terry has been a great learning curve for me. Making a final early on shows that our dynamic works, but it also gives us a clear look at what top-level execution requires. We’re definitely hungry for more. We’ll work on it and come back stronger.”

Hee, who has had several on-court partners in the last two years, said that the pair had managed their games well throughout the week, and that it “gives us solid momentum to build on”.

The 31-year-old added: “Reaching a final this early into a partnership is a huge confidence booster and proves that our chemistry on court is forming quickly. We’ll be taking it step by step – analyse our matches from this tournament with our coach, work on our teamwork, consistency and court rotation.”

In March, his partnership with Indonesian Gloria Widjaja came to an end.

Hee reached a career-high ranking of 22nd with Loh Kean Hean before he decided to focus on Paris 2024 Olympic qualification with his wife Jessica Tan.

With Tan, the pair claimed three World Tour titles and a historic gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. They were the first local-born mixed doubles pair to qualify for the Olympics, winning one match and losing twice at Paris 2024 to miss out on the quarter-finals.

Tan retired from competitive sport in 2025 to pursue a degree in sport management at the University of Bath.

Hee also had a stint partnering national teammates Jin Yujia and Wesley Koh before teaming up with Wong.

Deepanraj Ganesan is a sports correspondent at The Straits Times focusing on football, athletics, combat sports and policy-related news.

Sports and recreation

9 月 13 日，新加坡选手 Jason Teh（橙色球衣）站在越南公开赛冠军马来西亚选手 Aidil Sholeh 旁边。

照片：新加坡羽毛球协会

发布于 2026 年 9 月 13 日晚上 8:59

更新于2026年9月13日晚上10:18

新加坡选手郑志刚在越南公开赛男单决赛中直落两盘负于马来西亚选手艾迪尔·肖勒，这标志着他在经历了强劲的 2025 赛季后，2026 赛季将面临挑战。

新加坡男双组合许志瑞和黄浩文在他们搭档参加的第三项赛事中，以两盘全败给了中华台北组合陈志瑞和林宇杰。

Hee 和 Wong 表示决心提高团队合作和策略，将决赛经历视为增强信心和学习未来比赛的机会。

新加坡——9月13日，新加坡在越南公开赛上的征程以令人心碎的方式结束，单打选手郑俊杰和男双组合许志强和黄浩文均在各自的决赛中失利。

力图在世界羽联世界巡回赛上斩获个人第三个冠军头衔的郑国强，不敌世界排名第91位的马来西亚选手艾迪尔·肖勒，以两局皆负的成绩落败。在胡志明市阮攸体育场，这位26岁的选手以16-21、14-21的比分告负。

赛后，郑先生表示：“我认为我的对手今天发挥得很好，我跟不上他的进攻节奏。我的防守本可以做得更好。”

越南公开赛奖金为 12 万美元（15.2 万新元），是世界巡回赛低级别的超级百强赛事。

在之前的几轮比赛中，世界排名第 33 的 Teh 先后击败了印度选手 Manraj Singh（第 113 位）、中国选手王梓君（第 173 位）和韩国大师赛冠军朱璇辰（第 47 位），然后在半决赛中战胜了印度选手 HS Prannoy（第 40 位）。

尽管打进了决赛，但郑先生补充说他“并不满意，因为我真的很想赢”。

他说：“我需要更多训练，因为我一直受到伤病困扰。接下来是欧洲巡回赛。我希望我能在接下来的比赛中发挥得更好。”

特赫在 2025 赛季取得了突破性进展，赢得了泰国大师赛和韩国大师赛的冠军，这是他在世界羽联巡回赛上的前两个冠军头衔，同时他的世界排名也达到了职业生涯最高的第 19 位。

但事实证明，2026 年充满挑战。

在闯入越南公开赛决赛之前，他在 2026 年参加的 15 场世界巡回赛中，30 场比赛只赢了 11 场，9 场首轮出局，跌出前 30 名，错过了 9 月 19 日至 10 月 4 日的亚运会。

他唯一的冠军头衔是在三月份获得的，那是波兰公开赛，这是一项低于世界巡回赛的国际挑战赛。

在早些时候的女子单打决赛中，泰国选手萨伦拉克·维提德萨恩 (Sarunrak Vitidsarn) 以 21-8、21-15 的比分，用时 34 分钟击败了印度选手伊沙拉尼·巴鲁阿 (Isharani Baruah)。

新加坡选手许志强（左）和黄浩文在9月13日举行的越南公开赛上获得亚军后，对他们的新搭档关系充满信心。图片：新加坡羽毛球协会

新加坡选手 Terry Hee（左）和 Howin Wong 在 9 月 13 日的越南公开赛上获得亚军后，对他们的新合作关系充满信心。

在男子双打决赛中，许志瑞和黄荣亮也以直落两局的比分落败，排名第32位的中华台北组合陈志瑞和林宇杰以21-14、21-12的比分获胜，夺得冠军。

这是这对新加坡组合搭档参加的第三场比赛。尽管他们在首局以14-10领先，但对手连得11分，最终以21-14获胜。

赛后，25岁的黄说：“我们开局不错，直到比赛中段，对方改变了策略，我们丢了不少分。接下来我们必须学会如何快速调整策略。”

“能和像特里这样经验丰富的老队员并肩作战，对我来说是一次非常宝贵的学习经历。早早打进决赛，不仅证明了我们之间的默契配合，也让我们更清楚地认识到高水平比赛需要怎样的执行力。我们渴望取得更多成就，我们会继续努力，争取以更强的姿态回归。”

过去两年有过几位场上搭档的熙表示，他们两人在本周的比赛中都发挥得很好，这“给了我们一个坚实的动力去继续前进”。

这位31岁的球员补充道：“搭档这么快就能打进决赛，极大地增强了我们的信心，也证明我们在场上的默契正在迅速形成。我们会一步一个脚印地来——和教练一起分析我们在本次锦标赛中的比赛，努力提升团队合作、稳定性以及场上轮换。”

今年三月，他与印尼选手格洛丽亚·维贾亚的合作关系宣告结束。

熙在与罗建贤搭档时达到了职业生涯最高的第22位排名，之后他决定与妻子陈慧珊一起专注于2024年巴黎奥运会的资格赛。

与谭恩美搭档，他们获得了三项世界巡回赛冠军，并在2022年英联邦运动会上取得了一枚历史性的金牌。他们是第一对获得奥运会参赛资格的本土混双组合，在2024年巴黎奥运会上取得一胜两负的战绩，最终无缘四分之一决赛。

谭于 2025 年从竞技体育界退役，前往巴斯大学攻读体育管理学位。

在与黄成勋搭档之前，熙也曾与国家队队友金宇佳和许伟利搭档过一段时间。

Deepanraj Ganesan 是《海峡时报》的体育记者，主要报道足球、田径、格斗运动和政策相关新闻。

体育和休闲