Loh Kean Yew loses final, settles for historic Asian Games silver

Singapore shuttler Loh Kean Yew lost the gold medal to World No 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the Asian Games men's singles badminton final on Tuesday (Sept 29).

Loh, 29, lost 12-21, 16-21 to Kunlavut, who held a 8-2 head-to-head record against him going into the final.

During their last meeting at the India Open in January, Loh lost the first game 14-21, before going on to win the next two 21-15, 21-17.

But Loh has still delivered the Republic's best showing in badminton at the Games with the silver medal.

"Tired, and not so happy," he told the media after the match, before thanking fans for their support. "I'm sorry, but thank you for supporting me."

Earlier on Monday, he fended off challenge from unheralded South Korean Yoo Tae-bin to book his 11th meeting with Kunlavut.

Loh remains the first male Singapore badminton player to break into the top three of the BWF World Ranking in November 2022 — reaching a career-high ranking of number three.

Singapore's only previous badminton medal at the Asian Games came in 2006, when the women's team won bronze in Doha.

新加坡羽毛球运动员罗建耀在周二（9月29日）举行的亚运会男子单打羽毛球决赛中不敌世界排名第一的昆拉武特·维提萨恩，无缘金牌。

29 岁的罗以 12-21、16-21 的比分输给了昆拉武特，昆拉武特在决赛前曾以 8-2 的战绩领先于他。

在他们上次于 1 月份的印度公开赛上交锋时，罗以 14-21 输掉了第一局，随后以 21-15、21-17 赢得了接下来的两局。

但罗仍然为新加坡队在本届奥运会羽毛球项目上取得了最佳成绩，获得了银牌。

“很累，也不太开心，”赛后他告诉媒体，随后感谢了球迷的支持。“很抱歉，但谢谢你们的支持。”

周一早些时候，他击败了名不见经传的韩国选手柳泰彬的挑战，获得了与昆拉武特的第 11 次交锋机会。

罗俊彦是第一位在2022年11月跻身世界羽联世界排名前三的新加坡男子羽毛球运动员，他的职业生涯最高排名为第三。

新加坡此前唯一一次在亚运会上获得羽毛球奖牌是在 2006 年多哈亚运会上，当时新加坡女子羽毛球队获得铜牌。