Singapore’s top badminton player, Loh Kean Yew, has advanced to the quarter-finals of the BWF Singapore Open 2025. On Thursday (29 May), he defeated France’s Toma Junior Popov in a thrilling three-game match.
Loh started strong, taking the first game 21-12. However, Popov responded with a dominant 21-14 win in the second, forcing a decider. In the final game, Popov looked set to win, building a 14-9 lead. But Loh staged an impressive comeback. From 13-17 down, he won eight of the last nine points to seal a 21-12, 14-21, 21-18 victory in one hour and five minutes.
With this win, Loh will face another French opponent, Christo Popov, in the quarter-finals. It will be the third time in a row he plays a French player, having beaten Alex Lanier in the opening round. Interestingly, Loh had invited the French national team to train with him in Singapore ahead of the tournament.
In other matches, Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie, seeded fifth, was eliminated by Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao. Christie lost in straight games, 16-21, 19-21, in 53 minutes. Despite his efforts, he could not overcome the unseeded Malaysian.
World number one and top seed Shi Yuqi also suffered a surprise defeat. He lost to fellow Chinese player Lu Guangzu in a dramatic three-game match. After splitting the first two games, Shi took the decider to deuce. But Lu held his nerve to win 17-21, 21-13, 26-24 in a memorable battle.
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