BWF Hong Kong Open 2023: Loh Kean Yew crashes out in round one
The 2021 world champion loses to France's Christo Popov. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Carolina Marin and Yamaguchi Akane move on.
Badminton
Loh Kean Yew has crashed out in round one at the BWF Hong Kong Open 2023.
The 2021 badminton world champion lost to France's Christo Popov on Wednesday (13 September) 21-12, 17-21, 13-21.
After dominating the opening game, the star shuttler from Singapore lost his rhythm in the second while the unseeded Popov gained momentum and forced a decider.
A nervy start to the third game saw Loh quickly trail 3-9, with the Frenchman becoming more and more confident and finding even greater accuracy to close out the match after 63 minutes.
It was an unexpected setback for Loh who seemed to have rediscovered some of his best form last week when he reached the quarter-finals at the China Open before falling to eventual winner Viktor Axelsen.
Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting had little trouble defeating Brian Yang (Canada) 21-9, 21-14 to set up a second round encounter with Malaysia's Leong Yun Hao.
Earlier in the day, women's singles top seed Yamaguchi Akane and Spain's Rio 2016 Olympic champion Carolina Marin advanced to the second round.