SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew lost his second match of the season-ending Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Finals in Bangkok on Thursday (Dec 8).
Loh was defeated by Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie 21-16, 20-22, 10-21 in their Group B match.
He had never beaten Christie in five previous encounters, with the duo last meeting at the Badminton Asia Championships in April before their Bangkok clash.
Christie came back from a set down to win the second and third sets, in a match that lasted slightly more than an hour.
Loh previously took 42 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen 21-15, 21-17 in his first Group B match on Wednesday.
The 2021 world champion will next face Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting on Friday. Ginting defeated Chou 21-14, 12-21, 21-19 in their earlier Group B match on Thursday.
Loh is currently third in his group.
In Group A, world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen and Japan’s Kodai Naraoka both won their first matches respectively on Wednesday.
The top two from each group will proceed to the semi-finals, with Loh now needing to beat Ginting to make the last four.
The 25-year-old has a chance to reach a career-high world number 2 depending on his results at the final tournament of the year.
The draw for the semi-finals will take place on Friday after the conclusion of the final group matches.
World No. 3 Loh is the first Singaporean man to qualify for the prestigious tournament, which runs until Dec 11.
The World Tour Finals, which has a total prize money of US$1.5 million, features the current top-eight players in the singles and doubles categories.
