SINGAPORE – Loh Kean Yew suffered a fourth straight defeat by Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn on Friday, bowing out of the Malaysia Open 21-11, 20-22, 21-14 in a gruelling 80-minute quarter-final.
Despite the loss, Loh, 25, said: “Overall, it’s not a bad start (to the year). I managed to perform up to my level and I was hoping for more, but there can be only one winner.
“I gave my all and now I’ll just prepare for the next one. I overcame some of my own expectations and barriers, which I’m quite happy about.
“It was a difficult match, but a very good game overall for us. We fought very hard, tried to keep getting points from each other, and we both gave our all.
“There’s a lot (for me) to improve, but for now I’ll rest first, then prepare for the India Open next week and take it match by match.”
Kunlavut, 21, skilfully used his defensive abilities and precision to race to an 11-6 lead at the Axiata Arena, while Loh’s attempts to attack went wide or into the net, allowing the Thai world No. 9 to take the first game.
It was a similar story on the restart as the SEA Games champion quickly conjured a 7-0 lead, aided by his patience and comprehensive court coverage.
But world No. 6 Loh slowly chipped away at that gap, turning up the aggression and using his signature powerful smashes and wide range of shots to frazzle Kunlavut, who appeared to have no answer for once.
Loh took the lead for the first time in the match at 15-14 with a down-the-line smash.
The lead then changed hands before Loh took the second game 22-20 after a number of intense rallies.
Both players brought their A game to the decider, with the difference in points never beyond two until Kunlavut’s cross-court drop shot gave him an 11-8 lead at the interval.
A few mistakes from Loh allowed his opponent to widen the gap. The toll on both players was evident as they collapsed on the floor for a brief respite at 19-13, after Loh’s cross-court smash went wide.
The Thai two-time world junior champion’s patience eventually wore Loh down, with the Singaporean sending a shot wide at the baseline at match point as Kunlavut celebrated with a relieved smile.
The pair exchanged a hug at the net later.
Loh, who coincidentally beat Chinese great Lin Dan in the Thailand Masters exactly four years ago on Friday, said of his opponent: “Every time I play him is super challenging.
“He has grown a lot from when I first played him in 2015 and I’m happy to see him grow even more.
“He’s a strong fighter and he’s very skilful, so it’s not easy to play him. His defence is very good, so I need to think of ways to beat him.”
The Thai, who had also defeated Loh in the SEA Games final last May and in the quarter-finals of the world championships in August, now leads their head-to-head tally 4-1.
He will face Japanese world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka on Saturday for a spot in the final.
Singapore’s participation in Kuala Lumpur came to an end after women’s doubles pair Crystal Wong and Jin Yujia also lost in the quarter-finals.
The world No. 29s were comfortably beaten by South Korea’s world No. 20 pair Baek Ha-na and Lee Yu-lim 21-10, 21-6 in 41 minutes.
Wong, 23, was proud that they reached their first Super 100 quarter-final, but was not satisfied with Friday’s result.
She added: “We want to go as far as possible in every competition so that our ranking will rise and we hope to gain a lot of experience by playing in Asia and Europe.”
Jin, 25, added: “We can definitely see our progress with this result and reaching the quarter-finals shows that our training has been effective. This is a boost for our confidence as it shows we can give top-class players a fight.”
