Singapore shuttlers show spirit in defeat

Singapore's shuttlers put in a spirited display yesterday despite crashing out at the Round of 16 of the Singapore Badminton Open.

With an average age of just 20.7, this year's squad is one of the Republic's youngest to compete in the Open at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Loh Kean Yew, 21, missed out on becoming the first local shuttler since Ronald Susilo in 2002 to reach the quarter-finals of the men's singles, after losing 21-16, 21-13 to South Korea's eighth seed Lee Hyun Ii.

Despite trailing 10-1 in the first set, Loh rallied to win eight consecutive points to narrow the deficit to 10-9, but he eventually lost out to the 38-year-old seasoned campaigner who saw out the match in calm fashion.

Loh, who will finish his full-time national service in October, said: "He lost focus, so I managed to catch up.

"When the score was close, I got a bit more rushed in my shots as I wanted to give it a shot at winning the points. It ended up with me losing focus instead."

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It was a similar story in the women's singles as 19-year-old Yeo Jia Min crashed out to China's world No. 39 Cai Yanyan, losing 21-14, 21-16.

Though visibly disappointed, the full-time national shuttler drew positives from her campaign, saying: "It's a good experience, in a big hall and everything and home ground.

"I hope that I can take this experience into the next competition and, hopefully, I can work on all my other areas, physical and everything and come back stronger."

In the mixed doubles, Singapore's Danny Bawa Chrisnanta, 29, and Crystal Wong, 18, were beaten by Indonesia's Olympic champions and world No. 1 pair of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir 21-9, 21-13.

But they believe the Open has set them up nicely for their next competition - the Yonex Akita Masters in Japan next week.

When the score was close, I got a bit more rushed in my shots... ended up with me losing focus instead S'pore's Loh Kean Yew, who went from 10-1 down to 10-9 in the first set, but lost 21-16 to S. Korea's Lee Hyun Ii in the Round of 16

Said Wong: "I felt that our communication was quite good, and we are able to talk to each other and think of strategies in the game."

Chrisnanta added: "I've been looking forward to this partnership for some time. It's just whether we improve faster or slower."

In spite of the disappointing results, Singapore national coach Mulyo Handoyo remained satisfied with his charges' performance, though he indicated there was still room for improvement.

He said: "Mentally, they are not pressured, the players are confident and they have fighting spirit. But physique and skill need to improve."

In yesterday's other matches, Chrisnanta and Terry Hee lost to Thai third seeds Tinn Isriyanet and Kittisak Namdash in the men's doubles 21-18, 21-18.

The Republic's women's doubles pair of Citra Putri Sari Dewi and Jin Yujia also succumbed to China's sixth seeds Tang Jinhua and Yu Xiaohan 21-13, 21-7.

Today's quarter-finals will see South Korean veteran Lee take on Taiwan's top seed Chou Tien-chen in the men's singles, while Tontowi and Liliyana will look to extend their hot streak when they face seventh seeds Reginald Lee and Chau Hoi Wah from Hong Kong in the mixed doubles.

The Open will run until Sunday. Tickets are available via Sports Hub Tix and APACTix.