PETALING JAYA: Singapore's Loh Kean Yew set up a mouth-watering clash with Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the men's singles final of the Asian Games.
On Monday (Sept 28), the 2021 world champion fought brilliantly to beat surprise semi-finalist Yoo Tae-bin of South Korea 21-19, 19-21, 21-12 at the Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium and become the first Singaporean to reach the men’s singles final at the Asiad.
Tae-bin had earlier knocked out 2025 world champion Shi Yuqi of China in the third round.
Kunlavut, meanwhile, knocked out Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan 21-13, 21-15 in the other semi-final.
It will be a battle of world champions when Kean Yew takes on 2023 world champion Kunlavut in the final on Tuesday.
Kean Yew will start as the underdog, having won only two of their 10 previous meetings, but with his strong run and sheer determination, anything is possible for the 29-year-old.
“He (Kunlavut) is a strong player and everyone knows it,” Kean Yew told CNA.
“I’ll prepare myself to the fullest, go back and rest today … and fight for each point.”
Indonesia are also assured of a gold after Daniel Marthin-Leo Rolly Carnando set up the men’s doubles final against teammates Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.
It will be Indonesia’s second badminton gold after their recent success of defeating China for the men’s team title.
China’s women’s singles challenge, meanwhile, suffered a double blow when both their semi-finalists Wang Zhiyi and Chen Yufei lost to Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi and South Korea’s An Se-young respectively.
Yamaguchi will be out to win her first Asian Games individual title, but she will need to bring her A-game against defending champion Se-young, who has been in red-hot form throughout the competition.
RESULTS
SEMI-FINALS
Men's singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Alwi Farhan (Ina) 21-13, 21-15; Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Yoo Tae-bin (Kor) 21-19, 19-21, 21-12.
Men's doubles: Daniel Marthin-Leo Rolly (Ina) bt Kim Won-ho-Seo Seung-jae (Kor) 21-11, 21-14; Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri (Ina) 21-17, 13-21, 21-9.
Women's singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Wang Zhiyi (Chn) 21-11, 22-20; An Se-young (Kor) bt Chen Yufei (Chn) 21-5, 21-12.
Women's doubles: Baek Ha-na-Lee So-hee (Kor) bt Kie Nakanishi-Rin Uesaka (Jpn) 21-13, 21-12; Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning (Chn) bt Pearly Tan-M.Thinaah (Mas) 16-21, 22-20, 21-12.
Mixed doubles: Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina (Ina) bt Feng Yanzhe-Huang Dongping (Chn) 21-12, 21-14; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Gonzales (Tpe) 21-13, 21-9.
