With a hard-fought win over China's world No. 1 Shi Yuqi, Singapore's Loh Kean Yew not only advanced to the men's singles semi-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships but also claimed his biggest scalp of 2025.
The 21-19, 13-21, 21-16 win at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium on April 11 is his first against a top-ranked player since his defeat of Viktor Axelsen in the 2022 Denmark Open quarter-finals.
Loh, 27, said: "Unfortunately I lost my focus in the second game, after winning the first. But I was able to regain my focus in the final game and execute my game plan."
Following his victory over the All England Open champion, the Singaporean world No. 17 knows another tough assignment lies ahead in the semi-finals on April 12, as he will face 2023 world champion and his arch nemesis Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
The fifth-ranked Kunlavut booked his spot in the last four following a 21-12, 13-21, 23-21 win over Japan's world No. 12 Kenta Nishimoto.
Since defeating Kunlavut at the Thailand International Challenge a decade ago, Loh has lost all six of his meetings with the Thai, including the SEA Games final in 2022.
"I'm happy to be able to win and be in the semi-final, but the job's not done yet," Loh added. "I'll need to stay focused for tomorrow's game. I'll keep trying my best and give my all against Kunlavut tomorrow."
National singles coach Kim Ji-hyun hailed Loh's "exciting match" with Shi, which "kept us on the edge".
The South Korean added: "Kean Yew lost to Shi the last time they played (at the All England Open quarter-finals), so we wanted to try a different strategy by playing a more patient game and try to dominate the front court whenever possible. I was confident even when he lost the second game.
"I knew exactly what he would have to do to win the third… Kean Yew executed the game plan admirably. As for tomorrow's match, we're not revealing anything (for) now, stay tuned."
Loh is Singapore's sole representative left at the continental championships. He had come close to winning the Asian title in Dubai in 2023, when he lost to Indonesia's Anthony Ginting in the final.
Loh, who had lost in straight games to Shi at the All England Open quarter-finals in Birmingham, was neck and neck with his 29-year-old rival in their opening game in Ningbo.
With the score at 17-17, the Singaporean unleashed a flurry of smashes to clinch the first game 21-19.
Firing on all cylinders, Shi started the second game by reeling in six consecutive points and then extended his lead to 13-1. Despite Loh's late surge, the home favourite closed out the game to set up a decider.
But Loh stepped on the pedal in the third game, racking up eight points in a row to take a 10-2 lead before clinching a memorable victory - only his third win over Shi in seven meetings.
He will be hoping to advance to his second final of the year, having also reached the title-decider of the German Open, where he lost to Axelsen in March.
The other men's semi-final will be contested between fourth-seeded Li Shifeng and 20th-ranked Lu Guangzu, both of China.
In the women's semi-finals, there will be another all-China match between Gao Fangjie and Han Yue, with South Korea's Sim Yu-jin facing China's Chen Yufei in the other tie.
