On a dramatic Day 3 of the KFF Singapore Badminton Open 2025, Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew kept the home crowd on their feet with a gutsy three-game victory over France’s Toma Junior Popov to book his place in the quarterfinals. The local star’s triumph was part of a gripping day that saw defending champion and world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi crash out in a nail-biting upset, shaking up the men’s singles draw.

World No. 10 Loh delighted a strong home crowd after clawing past Popov, winning 21-12, 14-21, 21-18. Loh took the first game with sharp shot-making and good court control, but Popov struck back in the second as errors started to creep into Loh’s game.

The decider saw the Frenchman surge to a five-point lead at 14-9, but Loh showed resilience and fed off crowd energy to launch a stunning comeback, reeling off five straight points from 16-18 down to seal the match in just over an hour.

Loh said: “It was hard to control the draft today – the wind conditions, the shuttle, and he was playing well today. I just focused (on) one (shot) by one (shot), and I was just thinking to myself, ‘What’s the worst that could happen?’”

Next, Loh faces Toma’s younger brother Christo Popov, who beat India’s Prannoy H. S. in straight games (21-16, 21-14). Loh holds a 3–2 edge in their head-to-head, with the last encounter going his way at the 2024 Spain Masters 19-21, 21-17, 21-11.

The tournament’s biggest upset came as world No. 1 and defending champion Shi was ousted by compatriot Lu Guang Zu in a gripping three-game battle (17-21, 21-13, 26-24). Shi looked on course to close out the match after saving match points and leading 24-23, but Lu dug deep and surged ahead to win after 67 minutes of drama.

Lu will face Japan’s Kodai Naraoka in the quarterfinals, with their rivalry evenly poised at 3-3. However, Lu has claimed the last three encounters, including a straight-games victory at this year’s Thailand Open (21-15, 21-15).

Lu said: “Tomorrow’s match against Kodai will be a tough one, not just because of him, but also the conditions, especially with the wind. There’s also the emotional aspect to manage. I’ll need to prepare well, as I’ll have to run with him and be ready for long rallies and exchanges.”

Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu also delivered an upset, beating world No. 6 Chou Tien Chen 21-12, 21-16. He now faces Chinese Taipei’s Lin Chun-Yi, who stunned last year’s finalist Li Shi Feng 21-18, 21-14. This will be their first-ever meeting.

Thailand’s world No. 2 Kunlavut Vitidsarn, looking to make up for his withdrawal last year, eased past China’s Wang Zheng Xing 21-8, 21-17. He will take on Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao, who eliminated world No. 5 Jonatan Christie 21-16, 21-19. The Malaysian holds a narrow head-to-head lead and last defeated Kunlavut in a tight match at this year’s Thailand Open.

In the women’s singles, defending champion and world No. 1 An Se Young remained on track to defend her title, defeating Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min 21-14, 21-13. The first game was tight early on, but once the score reached 9-9, An picked up the pace and pulled away. The second game saw her take the lead from the outset and close out the match in 41 minutes.

An said: “The home crowd’s cheer was very loud and to be honest, I was a bit intimidated. So, I tried to find my pace as soon as possible. I also know that Jia Min is very fast on the court, so I tried to keep up with her speed, and I think it worked well.”

An now faces world No. 5 Chen Yu Fei in a blockbuster quarterfinal – a rematch of last year’s final. Chen advanced after edging India’s P.V. Sindhu in a tight three-gamer (21-9, 18-21, 21-16). While Chen leads their rivalry 13–12, An won their most recent encounter in straight games at the 2025 All England Open.

Japan’s Natsuki Nidaira produced a dominant performance to oust Thailand’s world No. 9 Supanida Katethong 21-11, 21-16. She now takes on China’s Han Yue, who defeated South Korea’s Kim Ga Eun 21-18, 21-10. Han holds a 2-0 advantage over Nidaira in their previous meetings.

China’s world No. 2 Wang Zhi Yi beat USA’s Beiwen Zhang 21-15, 21-9 and will now face Thailand’s Pornpawee Chochuwong, who came through a three-game battle against compatriot Ratchanok Intanon. Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi also progressed, beating Chinese Taipei’s Sung Shuo Yun 21-13, 21-14 to set up a clash with Canada’s Michelle Li, who upset seeded Japanese player Tomoka Miyazaki in straight games. Yamaguchi holds a 9-0 career record against Li.

In the men’s doubles, Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik finally overcame their long-time rivals from Japan, Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi, in a three-game thriller (21-18, 24-26, 21-12). It marked their first win against the Japanese pair in four years. The Malaysian duo will now meet compatriots Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun in a rematch of last week’s Malaysia Masters final.

Top seeds Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen beat China’s Xie Hao Nan and Zeng Wei Han in straight games and will next face Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who overcame a stern challenge from Thailand’s Kedren and Puavaranukroh. South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae were pushed to the brink but came through against the Popov brothers, 18-21, 21-15, 21-19, and will now play China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, whom they’ve beaten in both their past encounters.

There was another upset when Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty outlasted Indonesia’s world No. 8 pair Sabar Gutama and Reza Isfahani in three games. They will next take on world No. 1 Malaysian pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin, who advanced with a dominant win over fellow Malaysians Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap.

Malaysia’s world No. 4 pair Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan put on a composed performance to see off Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Mayu Matsumoto in straight games, 25-23, 21-18.

Their quarterfinal opponents will be China’s Jia Yi Fan and Zhang Shu Xian, who made light work of seeded Indian duo Tressa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela, winning convincingly 21-8, 21-10 in just 34 minutes. The Chinese pair brings an edge into the clash, having won two of their last three meetings with Tan and Thinaah, including a straight-games victory in last year’s semifinals at the Malaysia Masters.

South Korea’s top-seeded pairing of Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee also advanced comfortably, defeating Thailand’s Pichamon Phatcharaphisutsin and Nannapas Sukklad 21-13, 21-9. They will face Japan’s Rin Iwanaga and Kie Nakanishi, who defeated Chinese Taipei’s Hsu Yin-Hui and Lin Jhih Yun 21-15, 21-9. The Koreans head into the tie with a dominant 7-1 head-to-head record over their Japanese opponents.

Meanwhile, top-seeded Chinese pair Liu Sheng Shu and Tan Ning continued their dominant run, defeating Chinese Taipei’s Teng Chun Hsun and Yang Chu Yun in straight games to move into the last eight. They now face fellow Chinese duo Li Yi Jing and Luo Xu Min, who came through their encounter against Americans Lauren Lam and Allison Lee 21-12, 21-17. Liu and Tan have an overwhelming advantage in this matchup, having won seven of their past eight meetings with their compatriots.

Top seeds Goh Soon Huat and Lai Shevon Jemie of Malaysia booked their quarterfinal spot after a commanding 21-11, 21-19 win over China’s Feng Yan Zhe and Wei Ya Xin.

They now face Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Supissara Paewsampran in what promises to be a tightly contested quarterfinal. The two pairs are level at 3–3 in their head-to-head record, having already faced off four times this year. Most recently, the Malaysians won in straight games (21-17, 21-14) at the Badminton Asia Championships in April, and will be hoping to carry that momentum into tomorrow’s clash.

China’s world No. 6 pair Guo Xin Wa and Chen Fang Hui also advanced after a hard-fought win over Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, taking the match 21-16, 22-20. Their next test comes against another Indonesian pair – Jafar Hidayatullah and Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu – who impressed with a convincing 21-12, 21-12 win over Thailand’s Pakkapon Teeraratsakul and Phataimas Muenwong. This will be the first meeting between the two pairs.

Danish fifth seeds Jesper Toft and Amalie Magelund booked their place in the quarterfinals with a confident 21-13, 21-14 victory over Scottish pair Alexander Dunn and Julie Macpherson. They will now meet Hong Kong duo Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet, who dispatched India’s Rohan Kapoor and Gadde Ruthvika Shivani 21-10, 21-16. The Hong Kong pair leads their head-to-head 1–0 after winning their only previous meeting at the 2023 Denmark Open.

In the only quarterfinal not featuring a seeded pair, Chinese Taipei’s Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan will take on Japan’s Yuichi Shimogami and Sayaka Hobara. Their sole prior encounter was a three-game battle, which Ye and Chan edged 21-19, 12-21, 22-20, setting the stage for another close contest.

Held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium from 27 May to 1 June, the KFF Singapore Badminton Open 2025 is a key stop on the BWF World Tour Super 750 series, offering a prize pool of US$1 million. Tickets are available via Ticketmaster, with daily passes ranging from $40 to $330 and season passes from $100 to $450.

Photo Credit: BADMINTONPHOTO

The KFF Badminton Open runs from 27th May to 1st June 2025. Tickets and more info available here