SINGAPORE — Singapore’s top male and female singles badminton players Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min, once again failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in consecutive tournaments, as they fell to their opponents Li Shi Feng and Carolina Marin, respectively, in the Round of 16 at the 2023 Indonesia Open in midweek held at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno in Jakarta.
Hopes were high for Loh as the former world champions had four previous wins over the China player, with two of those victories coming in January earlier this year at the Malaysia Open (21-19, 23-21) and Indonesia Masters (21-14, 21-16). But Li, ranked ten in the world, outplayed his higher-ranking opponent and clinched his first win over Loh 21-19, 21-14 in a match that lasted 44 minutes.
Loh entered the match with high hopes, having previously defeated Li in four matches. The Singapore shuttler had secured two victories over his opponent earlier this year at the Malaysia Open (21-19, 23-21) and Indonesia Masters (21-14, 21-16). Despite Loh’s previous successes, he was outshone by Li, who is ranked tenth in the world, as the Chinese claimed his first win over the Singaporean, with a final score of 21-19, 21-14 in the match that lasted 44 minutes.
“I didn’t adapt to the situation as well as I should, and he played a good game also. As we played on, he get more and more confident and it gets harder for me to play. There’s a lot to work on and I think I need to discuss it with my coach first,” said Loh, who also was battling a bout of flu and fever during the match.
Earlier in the month, Loh exited in the same stage of the Singapore Open as he was stunned by Christo Popov 21-10, 23-21. In May, Loh suffered another disappointing loss in the first round of the Malaysia Masters to India’s Lakshya Sen 21-10, 16-21, 21-9. However, the world number five started the year on a positive note as he secured a quarter-final berth at the Malaysia Open and India Open in January.
In the women’s singles Round of 16, Yeo showed remarkable resilience despite facing a more experienced and formidable opponent, Marin from Spain, ranked sixth in the world. Yeo relentlessly challenged her opponent, a former Olympic and world champion, pushing Marin to her limits. Yeo demonstrated unwavering determination and a fighting spirit throughout the match. Unfortunately, she lost by a close margin of 24-26, 21-23.
With a busy competition schedule for both players since the beginning of 2023, which has seen them participating in the SEA Games Cambodia and the Sudirman Cup in China, they will now take a break before taking to the court again at the Korea Open on Jul 18-23.
Other Team Singapore shuttlers that competed in the Indonesia Open are Terry Hee and Jessica Tan in the mixed doubles. They lost 21-15, 21-10 to China’s Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping in the first round. Jin Yu Jia and Crystal Wong also suffered the same fate as they had an early exit, going down 21-9, 21-8 to Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai from Thailand.