He had just played what was very likely his last Olympic match, with no events lined up for the next few months.

But for someone who knows a step back from elite-level badminton is on the cards, Derek Wong cut a content, collected figure yesterday.

Following the 18-21, 8-21 defeat by world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei that ended his second Olympic campaign, the 27-year-old Singaporean dropped the biggest hint yet that he could soon call time on his career.

The world No. 55, a silver medallist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, ruled out a run for a third straight Games at the 2020 Tokyo edition.

"I'm going to slow down, or stop - it all depends," said Wong.

He later explained to The Straits Times that while his decision to take a step back may be unexpected, his body is unable to sustain the training that high-level badminton demands. He also felt his style of play is gradually becoming irrelevant for the game today.

He said: "The game is more about rallies and playing a patient game overall but my game has all along been about aggression, speed, power play, so changing has always been a big hurdle for me.

"I don't want to (block) the younger generation from coming up and participating in the Olympics. The Singapore Badminton Association has a plan for the next batch of juniors to come up, so I hope they can increase their level (of play) at a faster pace and go for it."

Wong took heart from the fact that his two Olympics have included matches against some of the best players, including world No. 13 Jan O Jorgensen of Denmark in 2012 and Lee yesterday.

Despite a fourth defeat in as many encounters, his strategy to move his Malaysian counterpart around the court yielded results for Wong, who posted a creditable effort in the first game and strung four straight points against the double Olympic silver medallist twice.

Said Wong, who tipped Lee to at least make the final: "It's not easy to sustain momentum like that against someone like Chong Wei.

"You can see the focus in his eyes for every point. He played a perfect second game, made very few mistakes and it was very difficult to get him out of position.

"I've managed to have quite a few good matches at the Olympics. It's not a bad run."

Team-mate Liang Xiaoyu also ended her maiden Olympic campaign yesterday after going down 21-17, 21-11 to South Korea's Sung Ji Hyun.

For the 20-year-old, the Olympics have proven to be a stage like no other. She said: "The nerves, the excitement you feel... you don't get it anywhere else. I wasn't as nervous today as I was yesterday, but was more anxious in trying to win points."