Jason Teh learns from Indonesia Masters q-final loss to world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn

SINGAPORE – He had opportunities to win his first game against Kunlavut Vitidsarn and record another upset, but underdog Jason Teh was shown what he is still lacking in his bid to join badminton’s elite.

The Thai showed just why he is the reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist, as he eased to a 21-16, 21-14 win over the Singaporean in their Indonesia Masters men’s singles quarter-final on Jan 24.

World No. 5 Kunlavut will meet China’s top-ranked Shi Yuqi on Jan 25, with the other semi-final pitting home favourite and world No. 3 Jonatan Christie against 26th-ranked Taiwanese Wang Tzu-wei.

Teh will pocket US$2,850 (S$3,800) and move on to the Jan 28-Feb 2 Thailand Masters, with more learning points from this week’s run at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta.

The 24-year-old told The Straits Times: “Tonight’s performance was not super good, but not super bad either.

“I managed to land some attacks and keep pace with Kunlavut in a few good rallies, but overall I still need to work a lot on my speed and consistency of shots.

“I also learnt the importance of being consistent and focused on every single point, and these would be my priorities preparing for higher-tier tournaments down the road.”

After victories against Denmark’s 28th-ranked Rasmus Gemke and Japan’s world No. 9 Kodai Naraoka in the earlier rounds, the 33rd-ranked Teh was riding high.

He continued with his game plan to stay aggressive, impressing with ferocious cross-court smashes and some delicate drop shots that had the Thai scrambling.

But Kunlavut, 23, has one of the best all-round games, and is a different proposition.

After settling into the opening game of the US$475,000 Badminton World Federation World Tour Super 500 event, he began exploiting openings in Teh’s backhand and finishing off loose shots at the net.

The Singaporean did well to reduce the gap from 11-17 to 16-19, but would rue, not for the first time, misjudging his opponent’s clearance and misplacing some wild smashes.

The second game also saw him pull off a few lovely combinations and finishes, but unforced errors and Kunlavut’s composed and clinical play saw the Thai pull away and extend his perfect record against Teh to six matches.

Nevertheless, there are still plenty of positives for Teh to hang on to as he won his first matches at the Super 500 level this week, when he also recorded his first victory over a top-10 player.

At the previous week’s India Open, he also won his first match in a Super 750 event before losing to Denmark’s Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen in the round of 16.

National women’s singles head coach Kim Ji-hyun, who is also overseeing the men’s singles players, said: “Kunlavut has the ability to pounce at the net, and Jason could have anticipated those moments better.

“In the second game, Jason was getting frustrated and committed many unforced errors as his opponent’s lead opened up.

“But he generally performed well against a much higher-ranked player, and is off to a very positive start this year. He needs to gain more experience playing at such tournaments, and improve both his front- and rear-court skills.”