Loh Kean Yew emerged as the Men's singles champion after Lee Zii Jia retired mid-match in the finals. It was a standout performance that earned Kean Yew his maiden BWF World Tour Super 500 title. The score stood at 19-21, 21-13, 17-12 when Lee's back injury ended the contest. In doing so, Loh made history as the first Singaporean man to ever triumph at a Super 500 event. Despite being ranked 39th globally, the 24-year-old has proven he can compete with the best, having previously stunned the second-seeded Lee in a straight-sets win at the French Open a month prior.
Loh Kean Yew won the Men’s singles title after Lee Zii Jia retired in the finals. Kean Yew was brilliant on the court and won his first career BWF World Tour Super 500 title. Kean Yew led the match 19-21, 21-13, 17-12 when Lee retired due to a back injury. Loh Kean Yew scripted history by becoming the first-ever male shuttler from Singapore to win a Super 500 event. The 24-year-old Kean Yew, currently ranked 39th in the world, recently defeated the second-seeded Lee in the opening round of the French Open last month. He stunned Lee in straight games.
The match began with the Malaysian Lee Zii Jia firmly in control, leveraging his speed and placement to dominate the first game. Lee's offensive play was sharp, using precise smashes to keep Kean Yew under pressure. Thanks to this strategic approach, Lee easily took the first set, leading many in the crowd to believe he would cruise to a victory in the second game as well.
However, Kean Yew refused to buckle under the pressure. He played with renewed confidence and managed to seize the momentum, taking full control of the second set. By maintaining a rock-solid defense, he forced Lee into making costly mistakes, eventually winning the game to push the match into a deciding third set.
As the final game progressed, Loh Kean Yew held the lead when the world number 8, Lee Zii Jia, suffered a back injury. Unable to continue, Lee was forced to retire. This victory in Germany earned Loh a prize purse of $32,400 and a significant boost of 9,200 ranking points.
This marks the second time Kean Yew has beaten Lee, who is widely regarded as Malaysia's top male singles player since the era of Lee Chong Wei. Interestingly, the two were childhood rivals before Kean Yew relocated to Singapore at age 13. His recent progress can be attributed to a rigorous training stint with Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, which clearly paid off in this tournament.
Outside of professional badminton, Loh Kean Yew's background includes serving as a transport operator during his mandatory National Service. While serving, he competed for the Singapore Armed Forces Sports Association (SAFSA), where he was honored as the best sportsman in 2018.
Earlier that day, Singapore also saw success in the Women's singles, where Yeo Jia Min earned a silver medal. She was beaten by Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan, who won 21-10, 21-14 to secure her own first Super 500 title. The match lasted 35 minutes, with Busanan comfortably defeating the 22-year-old Yeo, who is ranked 26th globally. Following these results, the Ministry of Defence praised both Loh and Yeo for their achievements and for representing Singapore with pride on the world stage.