No Singapore Open crown for Loh Kean Yew after heartbreaking final defeat

SINGAPORE – Smiling sheepishly and apologising after mistakenly climbing to the top step of the podium, Loh Kean Yew said he wants to be No. 1 at the KFF Singapore Open “for real one day”.

The light-hearted moment, which drew chuckles from the 7,880-strong crowd at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, came after the home favourite’s agonising defeat in the men’s singles final by ninth-ranked Frenchman Alex Lanier on May 31.

Loh, the world No. 14, said: “I just climbed the nearest step and I really didn’t know where I was. But of course, I hope to stand there for real one day. I want to thank all the fans for their support the entire week, and I hope to see them and do better next year.”

The 28-year-old was bidding to become the first local to win at the tournament since 2010 women’s doubles champions Shinta Mulia Sari and Yao Lei.

While he was the first Singaporean to reach the men’s singles final since Ronald Susilo in 2002, Loh could not match Wee Choon Seng’s 1962 feat of claiming the crown, losing 17-21, 21-15, 21-14 to Lanier. The 74-minute struggle on court took his game time across five days to a hectic 316 minutes.

En route to the final of the US$1 million (S$1.3 million) tournament, Loh required three games each to beat India’s 37th-ranked Srikanth Kidambi and 35th-ranked H.S. Prannoy, Taiwan’s 18th-ranked Chi Yu-jen, and Japan’s world No. 19 Koki Watanabe.

But despite his best efforts before the partisan home crowd – who turned out in red outfits, flags, clappers and unleashed the Kallang Wave – another three-game win proved beyond his reach.

He is now 1-3 in his head-to-head record against 2025 European champion Lanier in their fourth three-game encounter.

It already took a Herculean effort to come back from losing the first six points to take the opener against a wily opponent who was deceptive in attack and resolute in defence.

In what at times resembled an exhibition match with no-look shots, smashes exceeding 400kmh, diving saves and tweeners, Loh tried to repeat the feat in the second game after trailing 5-13.

Drawing a series of unforced errors from his opponent, he got as close as 13-14 before Lanier woke up in time to level the match.

It was a bigger gulf of 10-19 in the decider, and Loh would produce desperate saves to stave off three match-points before dumping a backhand into the net to lose the match.

Loh admitted to feeling stressed before the final and said he had asked himself: “What if I lose with the whole of Singapore watching?”

But his wife’s encouragement helped, as she told him that he had already won by playing in every round of the tournament.

He said: “This week has been physically straining. I tried to push myself to the limit and I think I did that. I didn’t give up and I fought for every point until the end. Even if I was going to lose, I was still going to fight.”

Battle he did, to the point that his good friend Lanier, 21, called him “annoying”.

Lanier said: “It’s a weird mix of respect and rivalry. We want to win but also want to share the moment, and I was excited to play against him today. Determination was definitely the key today. I lost a little bit of myself in the second set.

“He played a bit better, but I was just too impatient and didn’t want to play the rallies. But I found the solution in the moment and I’m very proud of that.”

Behind the laughter and banter, Loh acknowledged that the defeat hurt, especially as he had come to within one game of his first Singapore Open title. But he was also comforted that he found new levels of physical, mental and playing consistency.

After joking that he would punch Lanier if there were no cameras around, he said: “Of course, I could be happier now. I did what I could and he just played better so credit to him.

“When someone is very confident and playing crazy well, it can be like that. I was like that the past few days and that’s why badminton is so exciting, interesting and fun.”

Loh pocketed US$34,000 to take his career earnings past the million-dollar mark when combined with his US$378,474 in career prize money and S$495,000 from monetary rewards and public donations after his historic 2021 world championship win.

He will have a few days of rest before the June 2-7 Indonesia Open, a Super 1000 event, in Jakarta.

Praising Loh for his performance during the week, national singles assistant head coach Kelvin Ho said: “He showed Singaporeans he has fighting spirit, very high motivation and he is still a world beater.

“Moving forward, he has to show consistency in his performances in other tournaments. It’s normal to be fatigued today after playing three games every day, but he will be more ready to last the distance in the future.”

In the other finals, South Korea’s world No. 1 An Se-young secured her third women’s singles title after victories in 2023 and 2024 by beating Japan’s third-ranked Akane Yamaguchi 21-11, 17-21, 21-19.

The all-conquering 24-year-old, who overcame fever and headache from her semi-final win over China’s defending champion Chen Yufei, said: “Right now, I have some pain in my muscles and legs. I think I have to take rest for one or two days to see what’s happening, but I’m feeling better than yesterday.

“I was a bit in a hurry to try to finish the match as soon as possible but lost the second game. In the last game, I paid more attention to every point, focused better and got the good result.

“There were many people in the crowd cheering me on, so I worked really hard to not disappoint them.”

China’s Jia Yifan also claimed her third women’s doubles title with new partner Zhang Shuxian, following wins in 2023 and 2024 with Chen Qingchen, as the world No. 4 pair edged out top-ranked compatriots Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning 22-20, 21-19.

Denmark’s world No. 6 Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Boje were also repeat winners, adding to their 2023 mixed doubles title after beating Japan’s 18th-ranked Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara 17-21, 21-12, 21-12.

The men’s doubles final also went the distance as India’s fourth-ranked Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty came from behind to down Indonesia’s world No. 3 Fajar Alfian and Shohibul Fikri 18-21, 21-17, 21-16.