"Today, I feel like I didn't meet the standard," Loh said, reflecting on his Olympic Games Paris 2024 campaign, which concluded in the quarterfinals after being defeated by his good friend and badminton's defending men's singles champion, Axelsen, with scores of 21-9, 21-17 on Friday.
"I gave it my all, did my best, and put everything into it, but it still wasn't enough."
"I could have done more, but it's challenging to execute everything in practice. I think Viktor played very well and limited my options significantly."
"It wasn't easy to get past his defense. Hats off to him for playing so well."
Heading into the match at La Chapelle Arena, Axelsen had a career record of 8-2 against Loh. Loh had achieved a notable milestone by becoming the first Singaporean player since Ronald Susilo at Athens 2004 to advance to the Olympic quarterfinals.
Axelsen maintained his dominance over Loh throughout the evening. Although the second game was closer on the scoreboard, it was clear from the start that the second-seeded Dane would ultimately prevail.
Axelsen stated that he was determined to set the tone from the beginning, and he certainly accomplished that.
"It's always tough facing a good friend like Loh in a match like this," Axelsen said. "It's a shame there can't be two winners." Axelsen will be up against India's Lakshya Sen in Sunday's semi-final.
"I have a great deal of respect for Loh, who is also a close friend of mine. That said, I'm obviously thrilled with my performance."
"I played with a lot of confidence. I executed a solid game plan and successfully carried out everything I aimed to do."
"In the second game, he came out aggressively and played a very attacking style. I found myself retreating too much, but I managed to adjust my approach, and I'm really pleased with how that turned out."
Loh required a timeout after injuring his racket hand, causing his knuckles to bleed while pursuing a shot. He mentioned that the injury affected his grip, but ultimately, the scar probably wouldn't have impacted the outcome of the game."I don't think there were a lot of mistakes from him," he said rather meekly following his exit.