Loh Kean Yew loses to Indonesia's Jonatan Christie in Asia C'ships q-final
Loh Kean Yew's bid for an Asian title ended on Friday (April 29) after a quarter-final exit at the Badminton Asia Championships.
The reigning world champion, who was also on Friday named The Straits Times Athlete of the Year 2021, was beaten by Indonesian Jonatan Christie 22-20, 23-21 in a tight affair at the Muntinlupa Sports Complex in Manila.
This was the 24-year-old Loh's fifth straight loss to Christie, the Asian Games gold medallist.
Christie, who is two places above Loh in the world rankings at No. 8, also beat the Singaporean at last year's Tokyo Olympics group stage, stopping Loh from reaching the knockout round.
This was Loh's third appearance at the Asia Championships, which is a BWF World Tour Super 1000 event and is back after a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19.
In 2016 and 2019, Loh lost in the first round.
He will turn his focus to next month's Hanoi SEA Games, where he is aiming to win the men's singles gold.
He then has the July 28-Aug 8 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, before his title defence at the World Championships in Tokyo in late August before the Asian Games in Hangzhou a month later.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
