KUALA LUMPUR: Ng Tze Yong's fairytale debut at the All England ended late on Friday after crashing out in the quarter-finals.
The 23-year-old Malaysian, who stunned world No 1 and last year's champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the second round, went down tamely 21-11, 21-11 to China's Li Shi Feng.
Shi Feng will take on Denmark's Anders Antonsen in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Despite the heartbreak, Tze Yong told the Badminton World Federation (BWF) that he has no regrets.
"I wasn't comfortable playing him (Shi Feng), I think it was because of his gameplay," said the world No 28.
When asked if he had run out of steam after a long, tiring match against Axelsen a day earlier, the Johor-born replied: "I didn't feel that different. It was just another knockout match.
"I have to go back and work harder."
Following his fine showing in Birmingham, Tze Yong hopes to do the same, if not better, in his upcoming tournaments.
"This is my first All England, and I've learned a lot.
"Hopefully, I get to use this experience in my coming tournaments," said Tze Yong, who will head to Basel next for the Super 300 Swiss Open.
The other men's singles semi-final will feature world No 4 and 2021 champion, Lee Zii Jia, and China's Shi Yuqi, the 2018 champion.
QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Men's singles: Lee Zii Jia bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-9, 10-21, 21-13, Li Shi Feng (Chn) bt Ng Tze Yong 21-11, 21-11, Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) 21-14, 9-21, 21-17, Shi Yu Qi (Chn) bt Weng Hong Yang (Chn) 21-9, 21-16.
Doubles: Liang Wei Kang-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Leo Rolly Carnando-Daniel Marthin (Ina) 13-21, 21-19, 21-18, Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Ina) bt Liu Yu Chen-Ou Xuan Yi (Chn) 16-21, 21-19, 21-19, He Ji Ting-Zhou Hou Dong (Chn) bt Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi (Jpn) 17-21, 21-18, 21-15, Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) bt Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana (Ina) 21-18, 21-13.
Women's singles: Chen Yu Fei (Chn) bt Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Ina) 24-22, 23-21, Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Wang Zhi Yi (Chn) 21-19, 21-12, Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) bt He Bing Jiao (Chn) 21-12, 21-11, An Se Young (Kor) bt Carolina Marin (Spa) wd.
Doubles: Baek Ha Na-Lee So Hee (Kor) bt Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-11, 14-21, 21-14, Kim So Yeong-Kong Hee Yong (Kor) bt Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (Chn) 19-21, 22-20, 24-22, Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand Pullela (Ind) bt Li Wen Mei-Liu Xuan Xuan (Chn) 21-14, 18-21, 21-12, Zhang Shu Xian-Zheng Yu (Chn) bt Mayu Matsumoto-Wakana Nagahara (Jpn) 21-13, 22-20.
Mixed doubles: Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Lisa Ayu Kusumawati (Ina) bt Kyohei Yamashita-Naru Shinoya (Jpn) 21-19, 15-21, 21-19, Kim Won Ho-Jeong Na Eun (Kor) bt Robin Tabeling-Selena Piek (Ned) 21-14, 21-15, Seo Seung Jae-Chae Yu Jung (Kor) bt Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) 21-18, 13-21, 21-14, Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (Chn) bt Yuki Kaneko-Misaki Matsumoto (Jpn) 21-13, 21-11.