The world No 10 failed to clear the first-round hurdle in the Super 750 tournament at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, as he went down 20-22, 21-16, 19-21 after a 74-minute battle against world No 27 Weng Hong Yang of China tonight.

Two weeks ago, the 25-year-old crashed out in the second round of the Malaysia Masters, going down against Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei 19-21, 21-16, 15-21.

The defeat, added to a series of poor runs since early this year, which saw him fall two rungs to 10th place in the world ranking after having reached the world No 2 spot last October.

Hong Yang, the 2023 Malaysia Masters runner-up, will next face compatriot and the reigning All-England champion Li Shi Feng, who sent off Malaysian shuttler Cheam June Wei 16-21, 21-19, 14-21 earlier.

Former junior world champion Goh Jin Wei was also shown the exit in the women’s singles, losing 11-21, 11-21 to world No 7 Wang Zhi Yi of China.

In the mixed doubles, Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei stunned world No 15 Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya of Japan 21-19, 21-11 to cruise into the second round.

The world No 21 duo, will be up against Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek of the Netherlands in the last 16 tomorrow.