Loh Kean Yew bags historic Asian Games silver after defeat by world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn

Published Sep 29, 2026, 06:47 PM

Updated Sep 29, 2026, 11:29 PM

NAGOYA – History was made, even if it did not end in a golden hue, as Singapore’s 13th-ranked Loh Kean Yew lost 21-12, 21-16 to Thailand’s world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the Asian Games badminton men’s singles final on Sept 29.

Nevertheless, the 29-year-old can take pride in being the first Singaporean to reach an Asiad badminton final. The only other time Singapore won a badminton medal at the continental meet was in 2006, when the women’s team earned a bronze.

But losing a final always hurts, even if it was to a good friend and a training partner as skilful as Kunlavut.

While he talked about having pork rib soup and fried frog legs with the Thai in future, Loh admitted playing against him was a strain mentally and physically. He led 7-6 in the first game and 14-13 in the second game, but always looked likelier to lose with his slew of unforced errors.

He said: “I’m happy to get the silver and create history but at the same time, it is a bit sad that I couldn’t get the gold medal. I could have done much better today but I have more to work on in terms of my mentality.

“Kunlavut is a very all-rounded player, he attacks and defends well, and is very smart when it comes to tactical play as well. Most of my shots are going to come back and I just have to keep telling myself to be ready to keep doing the same thing over and over away.

“It gets more and more tiring but I still have to keep pushing through. He is also tired but he is also pushing, so the mentality part comes down to who gets more tired and slows down more, and who gives up first mentally and physically.”

Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew (right) congratulating Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn after the Asian Games badminton men’s singles final on Sept 29. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew (right) congratulating Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn after the Asian Games badminton men’s singles final on Sept 29.

Though he stretched his head-to-head record with Loh to 9-2, the champion responded equally graciously and said: “We learn from each other and help each other become better because he is good at attacking, and I am good at defending. He is a very good player, but today he made more errors.”

With inconsistency being one of his biggest weaknesses, Loh said he is encouraged by how he reached the final after falling at the first hurdle in both the men’s singles and team events on his Asiad debut in China in 2023.

This time, he overcame India’s world No. 14 Lakshya Sen, Malaysia’s 48th-ranked Justin Hoh, Indonesia’s world No. 1 and 2018 champion Jonatan Christie and South Korea’s 46th-ranked Yoo Tae-bin , based on the previous week’s rankings, giving him confidence ahead of Olympic qualification starting May 2027.

Showing maturity in his game play, fantastic fighting spirit and a good dose of fun with his manga-inspired celebrations all week, Loh can take heart in how he finally overcame bogeyman Christie, who had previously beaten him 10 times in a row, to rise to the podium again.

But he will first have to recover from an abdominal strain, a recurrence of the same injury he sustained in June, while chasing a 15-19 deficit in the second game.

Loh said: “I should gain more confidence from this result but I’m also going back to the injury phase and will have to restart the recovery process that I had gone through for the past few months and try to come back from injury again.”

Loh Kean Yew with his silver medal from the Asian Games badminton men’s singles final on Sept 29. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Loh Kean Yew with his silver medal from the Asian Games badminton men’s singles final on Sept 29.

Earlier in the day, South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young continued her unstoppable run to retain her women’s singles gold by defeating Japan’s third-ranked Akane Yamaguchi 21-17, 21-9 for her eighth title of the year.

After registering a mind-boggling 56th win in 57 matches – 49 of them in straight games – in 2026, the 24-year-old let out a piercing yell and formed a heart shape with her arms above her head, before beckoning the crowd to salute Yamaguchi the home favourite.

South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young continued her unstoppable run to retain her women’s singles gold. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young continued her unstoppable run to retain her women’s singles gold.

South Korea picked up another badminton gold when world No. 2 and 2023 silver medallists Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na outlasted China’s top-ranked Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning to complete an epic 26-28, 21-18, 21-18 comeback in a marathon women’s doubles final that lasted just nine minutes short of two hours.

Indonesia’s 43rd-ranked Leo Carnando and Daniel Marthin then came back to upset China’s world No. 3 Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang 19-21, 21-13, 21-18 for their first Asiad men’s doubles title.

Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin saved China’s blushes and kept their nation’s streak of at least one badminton gold at every Asian Games since 1998 when the third-ranked pair cruised past Indonesia’s 17th-ranked Amri Syahnawi and Nita Marwah 21-19, 21-8 for the mixed doubles title.

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

发布于 2026 年 9 月 29 日下午 6:47

更新于2026年9月29日晚上11:29

名古屋——尽管结局并非金光灿灿，但新加坡排名第 13 的罗建耀在 9 月 29 日的亚运会羽毛球男单决赛中以 12-21、16-21 负于世界排名第一的泰国选手昆拉武特·维提萨恩，创造了历史。

尽管如此，这位29岁的选手可以自豪地成为首位闯入亚运会羽毛球决赛的新加坡人。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，当时女子队获得铜牌。

但输掉决赛总是令人难过的，即使输给了像昆拉武特这样技术精湛的好朋友和训练伙伴。

尽管罗先生谈到以后想和这位泰国人一起吃猪肋排汤和炸田鸡腿，但他承认与这位泰国人比赛在精神和体力上都是一种考验。他在第一局以7比6领先，第二局以14比13领先，但由于一系列非受迫性失误，他始终看起来更有可能输掉比赛。

他说：“我很高兴获得银牌并创造历史，但同时，没能拿到金牌也让我有点难过。我今天本可以做得更好，但我在心态方面还有很多需要改进的地方。”

“昆拉武特是一名非常全面的球员，他攻守兼备，而且在战术方面也很聪明。我的大部分射门都会被对方拦截，我只需要不断告诉自己做好准备，一遍又一遍地重复同样的战术。”

“越来越累，但我还是得坚持下去。他也很累，但他也在努力，所以心态上的较量取决于谁更累、速度更慢，谁先在精神和身体上放弃。”

9月29日，在亚运会羽毛球男单决赛后，新加坡选手罗建耀（右）向泰国选手昆拉武·维提萨恩表示祝贺。（海峡时报摄影：林凯文）

9月29日，在亚运会羽毛球男单决赛后，新加坡选手罗建耀（右）向泰国选手昆拉武特·维提萨恩表示祝贺。

尽管他将与罗的交手记录扩大到9胜2负，但这位冠军球员同样表现得非常谦逊，他说：“我们互相学习，互相帮助，共同进步，因为他擅长进攻，而我擅长防守。他是一位非常优秀的球员，但今天他犯了一些错误。”

罗表示，发挥不稳定是他最大的弱点之一，但他对自己在2023年中国亚运会上首次亮相，在男子单打和团体赛中均首轮出局后，最终打进决赛感到鼓舞。

这一次，他战胜了印度世界排名第 14 的拉克什亚·森、马来西亚排名第 48 的贾斯汀·霍、印度尼西亚世界排名第一且 2018 年冠军乔纳坦·克里斯蒂以及韩国排名第 46 的柳泰彬（根据上周的排名），这让他对 2027 年 5 月开始的奥运会资格赛充满信心。

罗在比赛中展现出了成熟的球技、顽强的斗志，并且整周都以漫画风格的庆祝动作为比赛增添了不少乐趣。他终于战胜了之前连续10次击败他的宿敌克里斯蒂，再次登上领奖台，这让他倍感鼓舞。

但他首先要从腹部拉伤中恢复过来，这是他在 6 月份第二场比赛中追赶 15-19 落后局面时所受的相同伤势的复发。

罗说：“我应该能从这个结果中获得更多信心，但我同时也将回到伤病恢复期，不得不重新开始过去几个月一直在进行的康复过程，并努力再次从伤病中恢复过来。”

罗建耀于9月29日在亚运会羽毛球男单决赛中获得银牌。（海峡时报摄影：林凯文）

罗建耀在9月29日的亚运会羽毛球男单决赛中获得银牌。

当天早些时候，韩国世界排名第一的安世荣继续保持着势不可挡的势头，以 21-17、21-9 击败日本排名第三的山口茜，卫冕女单金牌，这也是她今年的第八个冠军头衔。

2026 年，这位 24 岁的选手在 57 场比赛中取得了令人难以置信的 56 场胜利（其中 49 场是直落两局获胜），她发出了一声尖锐的呐喊，并将双臂举过头顶比成心形，然后示意观众向主场宠儿山口致敬。

韩国世界排名第一的安世荣延续了她势不可挡的势头，成功卫冕女单金牌。ST PHOTO：KEVIN LIM

韩国世界排名第一的安世荣继续保持着势不可挡的势头，成功卫冕女子单打金牌。

韩国队再添一枚羽毛球金牌，世界排名第二、2023年奥运会银牌得主李昭熙/白荷娜在耗时近两小时的女双决赛中，以26-28、21-18、21-18的比分逆转战胜中国排名第一的刘胜书/谭宁，夺得金牌。

世界排名第 43 位的印度尼西亚选手 Leo Carnando 和 Daniel Marthin 随后逆转战胜世界排名第 3 位的中国选手梁维庚和王畅，比分为 19-21、21-13、21-18，夺得他们的第一个亚运会男双冠军。

蒋振邦和魏亚欣为中国挽回了颜面，并保持了自 1998 年以来中国在每届亚运会上至少获得一枚羽毛球金牌的纪录。这对世界排名第三的组合以 21-19、21-8 轻松战胜了排名第 17 的印度尼西亚组合阿姆里·沙纳维和妮塔·玛尔瓦，夺得了混双冠军。

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》的资深体育记者，主要报道水上运动、羽毛球、篮球、台球、足球和乒乓球。