Both of Brunei's representatives at the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold Badminton World Federation (BWF) Yonex failed to make it past the first round yesterday.
The national duo of Jaspar Yu Woon Chai and Jasmain Tay lost to Malaysian Wong Kin Yik and Joe Wu from New Zealand in their respective men's singles matches at the Hsing Chuang Gymnasium at the New Taipei City in Chinese Taipei.
"I think he (Wong) was alright. I think it was still down to me on the court. I found it hard to control the rallies especially in the back court area because the draft was quite strong," said Yu in an interview with The Brunei Times after his 21-12, 21-15 loss.
"And I think that I didn't execute enough of the tactics that I've planned out too.
"But from this tournament, I feel I've played out 75 per cent of my ability. There's definitely room for improvement for me and I need to think about my game and improve," said Yu, who also lost to Wong at the Maybank Malaysia International Challenge 2012 in Kuching, Sarawak, in November last year.
Compatriot Tay fell 21-10, 21-7 to Wu.
Tay was awarded a walkover win on Tuesday after his opponent, Yi-Hsiang Yang of Chinese Taipei, failed to turn up for their match.
"Our standard over in Brunei is definitely lower than Malaysia so I'm working hard to try and close the gap. But ultimately it's not down to only me... I still need the people around me to work hard," Yu insisted.
"But to sum it up, I feel quite good after this tournament because it's clear to me what I need to work on (competitive training matches), so I'm optimistic I can do better in the future.
"My next tournament is in November, the Malaysia international challenge 2013. Hopefully I can prepare well," added Yu who is currently ranked 517 in the BWF World Ranking.
The 24-year-old went on to say, "We need more tournament exposure but funding is hard to come by. I cannot keep self-funding myself so any form of support will be greatly appreciated."
The duo previously lost their doubles qualifying match on Tuesday, falling 2-0 (21-8, 21-12) to Yu-Wei Chiang and Yang Lee of Chinese Taipei.
One of the most prominent shuttlers in the country, Yu won bronze at the 2004 Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) Friendship Games and finished third at the 2009 Borneo Games in Brunei.
This year's tournament features a number of world class players including 2008 Olympics mixed-doubles gold medalist Lee Yong-dae, Malaysian star Hafiz Hashim and Vietnamese Tien Minh Nguyen, who is ranked fifth in the BWF World Ranking.
A total of US$200,000 is offered in the September 3 to 8 tournament.
The winners of the men's and women's singles event will receive a cash prize of US$15,000, while the runner-ups will receive US$7,600.
The winners of the men's and women's doubles event will bring home US$15,600, whereas, the runner-ups will take home US$7,600.
Organised by the Chinese Taipei Badminton Association the tournament is sanctioned by BWF and Badminton Asia Confederation (BAC).
