Loh Kean Yew took Asian Games men’s singles silver on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, after world No. 1 Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand beat him 21-12, 21-16 in 48 minutes in the final at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium.
The straight-games loss ended a historic Singapore run. Loh, ranked 13th, is the first Singaporean to win an individual badminton medal at the Asian Games. Before Aichi-Nagoya, the republic’s only badminton medal was a women’s team bronze at Doha 2006.
Kunlavut had risen to world No. 1 at the start of Tuesday. Loh entered the final with a 2-8 head-to-head mark against the Thai, though he had won their most recent meeting in January. Kunlavut also beat him in the 2022 SEA Games men’s singles final and holds a world title from 2023 plus Olympic silver from 2024.
How Loh reached the final
Unseeded, Loh beat Lakshya Sen and Malaysia’s Justin Hoh to open the campaign, then snapped a 10-match winless streak against then-world No. 1 Jonatan Christie in the quarter-finals. On Monday he saw off South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin 21-19, 19-21, 21-12 in 69 minutes to book the final.
“I’m happy about it, but at the same time, it is a bit sad that I couldn’t get the gold medal as well,” Loh said after the final. He told reporters he re-aggravated an old abdominal injury and will rest after the Games. “For now, I’m just going to rest first and see how it goes.”
Team Singapore’s Aichi-Nagoya tally after the silver stood at 2 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze. The Games run to 4 October 2026.
