Loh Kean Yew assured of historic singles medal, earns Asian Games semi-final spot

Loh Kean Yew of Singapore after edging ahead 20-19 in the second set against Jonatan Christie of Indonesia during the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games on Sept 27.

Published Sep 27, 2026, 01:42 PM

Updated Sep 27, 2026, 09:06 PM

Loh Kean Yew became the first Singaporean to win an individual Asian Games badminton medal by beating world No.1 Jonatan Christie in the men’s singles quarter-final.

He is assured of at least a joint bronze and will face Japan’s Kodai Naraoka or South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin in the semi-finals.

Loh’s win marks a comeback after injury struggles and adds to his historic achievements, boosting Singapore’s presence in Asian Games badminton.

NAGOYA – An inspirational quote sent by his mother-in-law gave Loh Kean Yew a much-needed boost on Sept 27, when he beat Indonesia’s world No. 1 Jonatan Christie in the Asian Games men’s singles quarter-finals to become the first Singaporean to win an individual badminton medal at the event.

World No. 13 Loh’s 21-14, 21-19 win over 2018 champion Christie was his first in 11 attempts, and he was assured of at least a joint bronze.

In the Sept 28 semi-finals at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium, the 29-year-old will face South Korea’s 46th-ranked Yoo Tae-bin, who has already accounted for China’s world No. 6 Shi Yuqi and Japan’s world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka.

The other semi-final will be contested by Thailand’s world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn and Indonesia’s 10th-ranked Alwi Farhan.

Loh said: “I’m happy with both achievements but I can’t be too happy yet. I need to stay focused for the next match, go back to rest and prepare myself.

“Earlier, I was in a video call with my wife and mother-in-law and complaining about my tough draw, and she sent me a quote about how God gives us tougher challenges to try to overcome and learn from them.

“Of course, I have been trying to find solutions in every game against him, and I’m just glad that this time I got a win. I don’t know if he’s tired or not, but I prepared myself to the best that I could and just tried to play my own game.”

Playing in a packed arena with Indonesian fans chanting “Jojo pasti bisa” (Jonatan, you can do it) and Singaporean supporters – including Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo – shouting “Let’s go, Singapore,” Loh stayed patient in rallies and clinical in attack as he gradually pulled away to take the first game.

His opponent did well to turn a 6-11 deficit into a 19-17 lead but lost the match on unforced errors, and Loh celebrated by pulling out his One Piece-inspired Luffy’s Gear Fourth pose, stretching out his left hand, cocking his fisted right and bouncing on his feet.

Christie has been in poor form since topping the rankings on Aug 25, losing five out of eight matches, including all three in the Asiad men’s team event as Indonesia won gold.

A packed badminton schedule also meant that he played against Loh just 12 hours after his quarter-final decider against Sri Lanka’s Viren Nettasinghe, which ended at 2am.

The 29-year-old said he was on “low battery” as he went to bed at 3.30am and woke at 9am, and he criticised the Games organisers for the scheduling.

“I think they have done a bad thing for the athletes. They don’t care about the athletes,” he said.

He was, however, gracious in defeat as he credited Loh for “playing very well in attack and defence”, adding that he “didn’t have enough power, so he (Loh) took control of the game”.

Earlier in the competition, Loh had beaten India’s eighth seed and 14th-ranked Lakshya Sen as well as Malaysia’s world No. 48 Justin Hoh .

His Asian Games campaign marks an upswing in fortunes for the 2021 world champion, after a roller-coaster season that saw him make two semi-finals in January and the KFF Singapore Open final in May on the Badminton World Federation World Tour.

An abdominal injury in June stalled his momentum and he failed to progress past the last 16 in the next five tournaments as his world ranking slipped to 13th.

At his Asiad bow in China three years ago, he went home with no wins and two defeats in the men’s singles and team events.

His badminton medal is the second for Team Singapore at the Asian Games, after the women’s team won a bronze in 2006.

Of his latest feat, he said: “We need to take into account every win not only for the medals and history made, but also because of all the hard work, sacrifices and what we go through every day.

“Athletes struggle every day, not knowing (what) we do is right or wrong. But we just keep trying to find solutions and fight against our own demons. It was tough but I’m glad I made it here.

“I still need to prepare for the next match, so I’m not going to let this get into my mind too much.”

Loh Kean Yew became the first Singaporean badminton player to clinch an individual Asian Games medal on Sept 27. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Loh Kean Yew became the first Singaporean badminton player to clinch an individual Asian Games medal on Sept 27.

Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, South Korea’s defending champion and world No. 1 An Se-young continues to power on, easing past Thailand’s fifth-ranked Ratchanok Intanon 21-8, 21-9 to set up a semi-final against China’s world No. 4 Chen Yufei.

This is the 24-year-old’s 54th win in 55 matches – 47 of them in straight games – in 2026 , as she took her second world title and the Uber Cup, first Asia Championships crown and five victories on the World Tour.

The other women’s semi-final sees another Chinese, world No. 2 Wang Zhiyi, play home favourite and world No. 3 Akane Yamaguchi.

Dive into all the sporting action and trends in Singapore with ST’s weekly newsletter.

David Lee is senior sports correspondent at The Straits Times, focusing on aquatics, badminton, basketball, cue sports, football and table tennis.

9月27日，在2026年爱知-名古屋亚运会上，新加坡选手罗建耀在第二局以20-19领先印度尼西亚选手乔纳坦·克里斯蒂。

发布于 2026 年 9 月 27 日下午 1:42

更新于2026年9月27日晚上9:06

罗建耀在男单四分之一决赛中击败世界排名第一的乔纳坦·克里斯蒂，成为首位获得亚运会羽毛球个人奖牌的新加坡人。

他至少可以确保获得并列铜牌，将在半决赛中对阵日本选手奈良冈幸大或韩国选手柳泰彬。

罗的胜利标志着他从伤病困扰中强势回归，并为他的历史性成就再添一笔，提升了新加坡在亚运会羽毛球项目中的地位。

名古屋——9月27日，岳母发来的一句励志名言给了罗建耀极大的鼓舞。当天，他在亚运会男单四分之一决赛中击败了印尼世界排名第一的乔纳坦·克里斯蒂，成为首位在该赛事中获得个人羽毛球奖牌的新加坡人。

世界排名第 13 的罗以 21-14、21-19 战胜 2018 年冠军克里斯蒂，这是他 11 次尝试中的第一次胜利，他也确保至少获得并列铜牌。

9月28日，在市宫市体育馆举行的半决赛中，这位29岁的选手将迎战世界排名第46位的韩国选手柳泰彬，后者此前已经战胜了世界排名第6位的中国选手石宇奇和世界排名第7位的日本选手奈良冈幸大。

另一场半决赛将在泰国世界排名第二的昆拉武特·维提德萨恩和印度尼西亚排名第十的阿尔维·法尔汉之间展开。

罗说：“我对这两项成绩都感到高兴，但现在还不能太得意。我需要专注于下一场比赛，回去好好休息，做好准备。”

“早些时候，我和妻子、岳母视频通话，抱怨我抽牌很艰难，她给我发了一句名言，说上帝会给我们更艰难的挑战，让我们努力克服并从中学习。

“当然，每次和他对决我都努力寻找应对之策，很高兴这次终于赢了。我不知道他是否疲惫，但我已经尽我所能做好了准备，并努力打出自己的风格。”

在座无虚席的体育场里，印尼球迷高喊着“Jojo pasti bisa”（乔纳坦，你能行！），新加坡球迷——包括文化、社区及青年部长梁振英——高喊着“加油，新加坡！”，罗在比赛中保持耐心，进攻时又表现得十分冷静，逐渐拉开比分，最终赢得了第一局。

他的对手一度以 6-11 落后，但最终以 19-17 领先，可惜最终还是因为非受迫性失误输掉了比赛。洛赫为了庆祝胜利，摆出了他受《海贼王》启发而创作的路飞四档姿势：伸出左手，握紧右拳，然后跳了起来。

自 8 月 25 日登上世界排名第一以来，克里斯蒂的状态一直不佳，八场比赛输掉了五场，其中包括亚运会男子团体赛的三场全败，而印度尼西亚队则获得了金牌。

密集的羽毛球赛程也意味着，他在与斯里兰卡选手维伦·内塔辛格的四分之一决赛决胜局结束后仅 12 小时，就与洛进行了比赛，而那场比赛直到凌晨 2 点才结束。

这位 29 岁的运动员表示，他凌晨 3 点 30 分才睡觉，早上 9 点就醒了，感觉自己“电量不足”，他还批评了奥运会组织者的赛程安排。

“我认为他们为运动员做了件坏事。他们根本不在乎运动员，”他说。

然而，他输球后表现得很有风度，称赞罗“在进攻和防守上都发挥得非常好”，并补充说他“力量不够，所以他（罗）控制了比赛”。

在之前的比赛中，罗赫曾击败印度排名第 14 位的八号种子选手拉克什亚·森以及世界排名第 48 位的马来西亚选手贾斯汀·霍。

这位 2021 年世界冠军的亚运会征程标志着他命运的转机。此前，他经历了一个跌宕起伏的赛季，在 1 月份打入两场半决赛，并在 5 月份的世界羽毛球联合会世界巡回赛中打入新加坡公开赛决赛。

6 月份的一次腹部受伤阻碍了他的发展势头，在接下来的五项赛事中，他都未能晋级 16 强，世界排名下滑至第 13 位。

三年前他在中国首次参加亚运会，结果在男子单打和团体赛中均未取得胜利，反而输了两场。

这是新加坡队在亚运会上获得的第二枚羽毛球奖牌，此前新加坡女子羽毛球队曾在2006年获得铜牌。

对于他最近的成就，他说：“我们需要考虑到每一次胜利，不仅是为了奖牌和创造的历史，更是为了所有的努力、牺牲以及我们每天所经历的一切。

“运动员每天都在挣扎，不知道自己做的是对是错。但我们只能不断尝试寻找解决办法，与内心的挣扎作斗争。这很艰难，但我很高兴我最终走到了这里。”

“我还需要为下一场比赛做准备，所以我不会让这件事过多地影响我的心情。”

9月27日，罗建耀成为首位获得亚运会个人羽毛球奖牌的新加坡选手。（海峡时报图片：林凯文）

9月27日，罗建耀成为首位获得亚运会个人羽毛球奖牌的新加坡运动员。

与此同时，在女子单打比赛中，韩国卫冕冠军、世界排名第一的安世荣继续保持强势，以 21-8、21-9 轻松战胜排名第五的泰国选手拉差诺·因达农，将在半决赛中对阵世界排名第四的中国选手陈雨菲。

这是这位 24 岁选手在 2026 年 55 场比赛中取得的第 54 场胜利——其中 47 场是直落两局获胜——她获得了第二个世界冠军头衔和尤伯杯冠军，第一个亚洲锦标赛冠军头衔，以及五场世界巡回赛的胜利。

另一场女子半决赛将由另一位中国选手、世界排名第二的王志怡对阵本土宠儿、世界排名第三的山口茜。

通过《海峡时报》的每周新闻简报，深入了解新加坡的所有体育赛事和趋势。

David Lee 是《海峡时报》的高级体育记者，主要报道水上运动、羽毛球、篮球、台球、足球和乒乓球。