KUALA LUMPUR: Mixed doubles pair Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing reached the end of the road in the French Open after getting knocked out in the quarter-finals by World No 1 Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong.
The World No 14 put up a spirited display against the Chinese pair before bowing to a 21-14, 20-22, 21-12 defeat in Paris on Friday.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing have now lost to the reigning world champions four times this year.
The national No 3 can, however, take heart from the fact that they did give Siwei-Yaqiong a fight before bowing out.
That should do their confidence a world of good as they look to improve in their coming tournaments after coming under fire for underperforming earlier this year.
Kian Meng-Pei Jing will now head to the China Open in Fuzhou from Nov 5-10.
They will take on World No 10 Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong in the first round.
Meanwhile Indonesia’s Anthony Ginting showed that he’s definitely the one to beat at the Philippines Sea Games after stunning World No 1 Kento Momota of Japan 21-10, 21-19 in the quarter-finals of the men’s singles event.
The win is Ginting’s fourth over reigning world champion Momota in 14 appearances and it also snapped a six-match losing streak dating back to the Denmark Open last year.