Singapore's Loh Kean Yew exits All-England after round-of-16 loss to France's world No 5 Popov
Singapore's Yeo Jia Min was also eliminated from the tournament on Thursday (Mar 5).
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SINGAPORE: Loh Kean Yew's All-England Open journey came to an end on Thursday (Mar 5) after he was outclassed by world No 5 Christo Popov in the men's singles round of 16.
At the Utilita Arena Birmingham, world No 10 Loh lost 12-21, 17-21 to the Frenchman in 41 minutes. Popov will next face world No 11 Lin Chun-Yi.
Against the 23-year-old rising star, Loh looked to be feeling the effects of his 93-minute duel with Japan's Kodai Naraoka the day before.
At last year's edition, the Singaporean made the quarterfinals before he was eliminated by world No 1 Shi Yu Qi.
Loh is now 3-5 in head-to-head meetings against Popov, with his last win coming in 2024.
In the women's singles, Singapore's world No 38 Yeo Jia Min also exited the tournament after a 18-21, 11-21 defeat by world-ranked 23 Line Christophersen.
Earlier in the competition, Singaporean Jason Teh went down 11-21, 21-10, 15-21 to Indonesia's fourth seed Jonatan Christie.
Teh, ranked 34th in the world, has yet to beat the world No 4 in five meetings.
In the mixed doubles, Singapore’s Terry Hee and Indonesia’s Gloria Widjaja came agonisingly close to a shock victory over China’s world No 1 pair of Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping.
Feng and Huang took the win 18-21, 21-18, 21-19 in 81 minutes.
