Singapore badminton player Loh Kean Yew's impressive run at the 2023 Korea Open in Yeosu has ended with a narrow loss to Anders Antonsen from Denmark in the final.

The world No. 8 lost 11-21, 21-11, 21-19 to 16th-ranked Antonsen.

This marks an improvement from Loh's last badminton tournament final in April 2023, where he lost in straight sets to Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting at the Badminton Asia Championships.

This time, it came down to the wire, with Antonsen closing out a slender victory in game three to defeat the local badminton star.

Hard-fought match

Leading up to the final, Loh claimed the scalps of world number four Kodai Naraoka, Malaysia's Ng Tze Yong, and China's Zhao Jun Peng.

He also started out strong in the final, winning the first match 21-11.

However, Antonsen fought back in the second, winning it with an identical scoreline of 21-11.

The third game was a more back-and-forth affair.

Loh raced to a fast start with a 7-3 scoreline, but Antonsen followed that up with a good run to make it 11-8 at the interval.

Though the former badminton world champion made a late fightback to keep the scoreline close, he never again took the lead, with Antonsen converting his second match point to win out 21-19.

Fourth loss to Antonsen

This was Loh's first Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour final since January 2022.

It also marks his fourth loss to the Danish shuttler.

The last time they met in the first round of the All-England Open in 2022, Antonsen similarly defeated him 2-1.

Top image from sgbadminton on Instagram.