Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min through to German Open finals

The badminton bromance between Singapore's Loh Kean Yew and Denmark's Viktor Axelsen will enter a 13th instalment, after both came through their German Open men's singles semi-finals in contrasting fashion on March 1.

World No. 15 Loh eased past Japan's 44th-ranked Koo Takahashi 21-13, 21-14 in 46 minutes to reach his first final since winning the Madrid Spain Masters, a Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 300 event, in March 2024.

World No. 4 Axelsen made it to his second final of 2025, following his India Open win, after being made to sweat by 18th-ranked Frenchman Toma Junior Popov before winning 21-19, 17-21, 21-17 in 77 minutes.

The finalists of this US$240,000 (S$324,000) Super 300 event have been buddies since Loh joined Axelsen's Dubai training camp in 2021.

While the 31-year-old Dane holds a 10-2 record over the Singaporean - including a three-game victory in the 2021 Indonesia Open, their only final together - Loh did famously beat Axelsen in the first round on the way to becoming the world champion less that a month later.

After Axelsen beat Loh in the Paris 2024 quarter-finals en route to his second Olympic gold, the 27-year-old Singaporean had been on a slump of sorts.

He won just five out of 15 matches before the German Open and suffered six first-round exits in World Tour events as he slipped out of the top 10.

Axelsen also won in three games in their India Open quarter-final before clinching the Super 750 event in January.

But Loh has been in fine form at the Westenergie Sporthalle in Mulheim, and was clinical at the net and from his ferocious smashes against a hapless Takahashi.

Loh told The Sunday Times: "I'm glad that I managed to win today. It'll be a tough match tomorrow for sure, and I'm ready to give my all.

"Every win is a happy one and I'm focusing just one match at a time. The job's not done yet so I need to keep focusing."

In the women's singles, compatriot Yeo Jia Min also has a chance to end a 66-month title drought on the BWF World Tour.

She registered her first win over Denmark's 23rd-ranked Mia Blichfeldt in a decade with a 21-19, 22-20 victory in 45 minutes to reduce her head-to-head deficit to 2-4.

On March 2, the 26-year-old will meet Vietnam's world No. 29 Nguyen Thuy Linh, who ousted Japan's Riko Gunji 21-17, 21-19 in the other semi-final.

It is world No. 13 Yeo's first final on the World Tour since losing the Hylo Open final in 2021 to Thailand's Busanan Ongbamrungphan.

Her last World Tour title was at the Hyderabad Open in August 2019. The Singaporean also won the lower-tier Polish Open title in 2023.

In a topsy-turvy semi-final in which Yeo and Blichfeldt traded unforced errors in the opening game, they also turned over the lead 10 times. While Blichfeldt did well to exploit Yeo's backhand side and loose returns, she also succumbed to lapses in concentration as she smashed her racket on the floor in frustration after losing the opening game.

The Dane looked to have imploded in the second game as she engaged in a losing argument with the umpire over whether the court needed wiping and hit several shots way out or into the net as she trailed 7-11 at the interval.

While Blichfeldt showed resolve to catch up to 13-13 in the second game, Yeo used everything in her arsenal to prevent her opponent from grabbing the lead, including winning an exciting 41-shot rally to make it 17-16.

Interestingly, they were neck and neck as neither won any of the next 15 points on serve. But the Singaporean finally did so on match point as Blichfeldt's backhand sailed wide.

Yeo said: "Mia's a hard hitter, so I needed to move her around the court more today.

"I lost some focus in the second game and she successfully anticipated a few shots which made me lose my lead.

"I had to refocus and managed to come through with the win. I'm really grateful for my first Super 300 final and excited to give my all tomorrow."