Alwi Farhan Makes History at the 2026 Singapore Open

JAKARTA - The men's singles badminton player Alwi Farhan has made history at the 2026 Singapore Open after he reached the semifinals. It was his first semifinal at the BWF Super 750 level badminton tournament. Alwi, who is 21 years old, qualified for the last four of the tournament after sending Kodai Naraoka from Japan in a two-game match 21-12 and 21-17 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on Friday, 29 May 2026, WIB evening. "It's really nice to be able to win to avenge the defeat and get to the first semifinal in the Super 750. I was chased in the second game, but I was able to control the pressure and control the situation," said Alwi in a statement received. This is the second clash between Alwi and Kodai in the competitive arena - all of which happened this year. Kodai won their first meeting in the second round of the Badminton Asia Championship (BAC) in early April also in two straight games. Alwi admitted that he was in a very stressed state when facing Kodai because in the previous round he managed to send Shi Yuqi, the world number one badminton player and the first seed in this competition. "But I tried to control and learn from the experience. When I played well yesterday, it didn't guarantee that I could play well today. So, I was afraid of anticlimactic as well, but in the end I was able to control it," said Alwi.

In the semifinal round, Alwi will face a tough test again because he has to meet Alex Lanier. The French badminton player qualified for the semifinals after defeating the third seed Anders Antonsen from Denmark. So far, Lanier has a record of winning 3-2 over Alwi. Two of the winning numbers occurred in their two most recent clashes, namely at the 2026 Malaysia Open and the 2026 Thomas & Uber Cup. Alwi qualified for the semifinals with the men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. Fajar/Fikri managed to survive in the tournament after sending home the eighth seed from Malaysia, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin. The tough test must also be passed by Fajar/Fikri in the fourth round because they face the fifth seed Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang. The Chinese pair passed the quarterfinals by stopping the second seed from Malaysia, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik.