While Axelsen got off to a flying start in his match on Thursday, it was the exact opposite in Friday's quarterfinal. Axelsen played with too much risk in the beginning of the match and Loh was quick to take advantage of Axelsen's many mistakes to establish a 9-2 lead.
After this, the Danish Olympic champion gradually clawed his way back into the game and was very relieved to claim the first set 21-19.
In the second set, Axelsen seemed to forget everything about what had worked wonders for him in the first set. Loh was able to lower the pace of the game and often caught the Danish favourite at the net where the strong player from Singapore was by far superior.
In the third set, Axelsen was able to swing the tide back in his favour. He upped the pace, looked much sharper and played with the composure that earlier earned him the ranking as number one in the world. At the same time, Loh really struggled to execute his gameplan and so the Dane was superior in the end
Axelsen now faces Jonatan Christie or Lin Chun-Yi in Saturday's semi-final.