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Singaporean Badminton World Champion Loh Kean Yew was defeated by Malaysian Lee Zii Jia at the Badminton Asia Team Championships on Feb. 16.
Loh Kean Yew defeated
Loh is currently ranked world number 12, while Lee is world number 7.
Both shuttlers have known each other since they were children and have cultivated a long-running rivalry.
They have met a total of five times on the court.
This includes the recent Badminton Asia Team Championships opening Group B men's singles match on Feb. 16, where the rivals went head to head at Setia City Convention Center in Shah Alam, Selangor.
Lee beat Loh 21-6 and 21-14 in just 30 minutes, according to Badminton Association of Malaysia.
The Straits Times (ST) reported that Loh looked "out of sorts" whilst on the court, with the Singaporean badminton extraordinaire subsequently conceding that he "did not play well".
According to The Sun Daily, Loh said during a post-match interview that his performance was affected by the five-day quarantine and was not at his best.
He also commended Lee's performance and said he aspires "to learn from [Lee] and improve": "I think Zii Jia played very well... I think every tournament will be different, he performed very well today."
You can watch snippets of the match below.
Singapore lost 5-0
Together with Loh's loss, the Singaporean players were beaten in five out of five opening matches by their Malaysian counterparts.
Singles
In the men's second singles, Singapore's Jason Teh Jia Heng put up a tough fight against Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong, ranked world number 104 and 47 respectively, in a gruelling 78-minute duel.
Teh was just two points shy of a victory, before he allowed Ng a way back to force a decider, and lost 17-21, 24-22, 21-19 ultimately, according to ST.
Singapore's losing streak continued in the third men's singles, when Singapore's world number 274 Joel Koh Jia Wei lost to Malaysia's world number 126 Leong Jun Hao 21-17, 22-20 in 39 minutes.
Doubles
The opening Group B men's doubles match during the Badminton Asian Team Championships saw the defeat of the unranked Singaporean duo Danny Bawa Chrisnanta and Wesley Koh Eng Keat by Malaysia's Aaron Chia Teng Fong and Soh Wooi Yik.
The Malaysian shuttlers beat the Singaporean shuttlers 21-14, 21-12 in just under 25 minutes.
In the second doubles match, Singaporean Terry Hee Yong Kai and Andy Kwek Jun Liang lost 21-10, 21-13 to Malaysia's Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin in 26 minutes.
The Singaporean duo is ranked 1,234th in the world, while their Malaysian counterparts are ranked world number 17.
This marked the second time that Singaporeans Hee and Kwek played together, as Hee's regular partner Loh Kean Hean did not travel with the team after he tested positive for Covid-19.
Singapore will face off Japan at 4pm on Feb. 17.
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