Badminton: Singapore's Loh Kean Yew falls to familiar foe Kunlavut Vitidsarn in Thailand Open semis

SINGAPORE: Loh Kean Yew’s wait to beat Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn stretches on after the Singaporean fell 21-10, 21-12 in 43 minutes to the top seed and hometown favourite at the Thailand Open on Saturday (May 17).

In their men's singles semi-final at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok, world number 2 Kunlavut went into the interval ahead 11-8, despite the Singaporean keeping himself in striking distance early on.

And with Loh making a number of unforced errors, Kunlavut extended his lead to as many as eleven points to see the first game out.

The Singaporean, who was playing in his ninth match in 11 days, struggled to make any breakthrough in the second game as Kunlavut booked his place in the final.

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Still, it was Loh’s best finish at the Super 500 tournament in four appearances.

Currently ranked 11th in the world, Loh was aiming to break a losing streak against reigning world champion Kunlavut, who held a 7-1 head-to-head record over him coming into Saturday.

The Thai last beat Loh at the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships semi-finals a month ago. Loh finished with bronze.

According to Badminton World Federation records, the 27-year-old’s last victory over Kunlavut came at the 2015 Thailand International Challenge.

Despite the loss, it has been a good start to the year for Loh, who has now made four semi-finals after the Taipei Open, the Badminton Asia Championship, where he finished joint-third,  and the German Open, where he was runner-up.

The Singaporean also made the All-England Open quarter-finals in March.

Loh clinched the men’s singles title at the Super 300 Taipei Open a week ago by defeating top seed and world number 7 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan.

He took the match 21-14, 15-21, 22-20 in 69 minutes, securing his first title in over a year and becoming the first Singaporean to win the tournament.