Anthony Sinisuka Ginting’s two-year invincibility in Singapore was brought to an unexpected conclusion today by an opponent ranked 33 places below him in the world.

Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao came into the match undeterred by his 2-0 record in career meetings with the world No.3, and in winning 21-14 10-21 21-8 at KFF Singapore Badminton Open 2024, he became the first player to beat the Indonesian since Kento Momota did so in the 2019 final.

“Overall, I played proactively, so of course I’m happy,” said the 24-year-old, who will now face world No.1 Viktor Axelsen in the quarterfinals.

“I used to feel he was too strong an opponent, I’d get overpowered and beaten by him. Today, I was more positive and didn’t allow him to attack easily. There was more initiative on my part.

“As I played more and more smoothly, I felt I needed to maintain it so I tried my best to widen the lead and kept looking for a chance (to kill the shuttle). It’s a breakthrough after losing twice to him.”

Two-edition defending champion Ginting conceded Leong handled the conditions better.

“It was a tough match. I made a lot of unforced errors, and I couldn’t overcome the challenges on court. Leong, on the other hand, did,” he said. “Of course the drift is difficult, but Leong also faced the same thing.”

Since finishing runner-up to compatriot Jonatan Christie at the All England in March, the Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist has lost all three of his clashes with top 10 players in individual and team events.

“The hope is to improve my performance before the Olympics, at least to have some satisfactory results. What happened today is a lesson for the next event.”

→ Results (Round of 16)

→ Order of play (Quarterfinals)

WHAT OTHERS SAID:

“My condition now isn’t really the best. To be at my peak at the Olympics is my main priority. As such, I will not prioritise pushing myself too much (in Singapore). I’m pacing myself accordingly towards Paris.” – Akane Yamaguchi

“I have no words because I didn’t know if I could play or not. I woke up here on the first day with a bad neck pain. I can’t even move or look up comfortably. At times, I couldn’t attack, or I had to wait until the shuttle came to hit. I was lucky I could win today.” – Carolina Marin after defeating Pusarla V. Sindhu for the sixth consecutive time

“He has grown a lot over the past few years. It’s going to be a tough match.” – Loh Kean Yew on quarterfinal opponent Li Shi Feng

“It was a great match. We fought till the end, we didn’t give them easy points. It’s been a while since we played this intense a match, lots of good things to take away.” – Treesa Jolly after she and Gayatri Gopichand Pullela ousted second seeds Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee