Singapore’s Jason Teh made history by winning his first major singles title at the Thailand Masters against China’s Wang Zheng Xing.
In a tense and hard-fought men’s singles final at the Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok, Teh fought his way to victory. Even after losing the second set, the athlete bounced back with a decisive third set win, securing a final scoreline of 21-18, 15-21, 21-19.
Teh revelled in his victory. “I’m very happy to win my first title,” he said. “Honestly, I was thinking about winning the title already at 18-18 in the third game, which caused me to commit unforced errors as I was rushing. But luckily, I was able to reset and get back on track.”
He added: “I know Wang is not easy to beat, so I was just ready for a long and tough match coming into the finals … My next goals are to improve my ranking bit by bit and continue a high intensity of training.”
The Thailand Masters final was Teh’s third encounter with world No 39 Wang Zheng Zing — and his second victory against the Chinese.
What’s next for Teh?
Kim Ji-hyun, Singapore’s singles head coach, said Teh’s win would be a “confidence booster” for the athlete preparing for his debut at the All England tournament next month.
The coach stated: “Of course, Jason understands that this is just a stepping stone to ultimately getting on the podium at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”
Teh has now reached a career-high in rankings as world No 30. He is Singapore’s second-highest-ranked men’s singles player, following Loh Kean Yew, the world No 11.
Teh also had an impressive run at the Indonesia Masters last month, making it to the quarter-finals and shocking Japan’s world No. 9, Kodai Naraoka. He reached the finals in five tournaments in his stellar 2024 season. Now that he has finally won his first major singles title, his fans will hope he has more honours to come.