PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao (pic) has an opportunity to reignite his season with a positive performance in the Indonesian Masters starting tomorrow in Jakarta.
Jun Hao was struck by misfortune in the Indian Open when high fever forced him to retire from his first round match against Japan’s Yushi Tanaka in New Delhi.
The world No. 23 will be hoping for better fortunes when he opens his campaign against South Korea’s world No. 35 Jeon Hyeok-jin.
Based on the draw, singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen believes the 26-year-old Jun Hao has a good chance to go far in the tournament if he can bring out his best performance.
“It’s a positive draw with possibilities. But the performance needs to be at the very best,” said Jonassen.
If Jun Hao can overcome Hyeok-jin, he will face the winner of the all-Taiwanese match between world No. 5 Chou Tien-chen and world No. 24 Wang Tzu-wei in the second round.
Meanwhile, independent player Lee Zii Jia and Justin Hoh will also be hoping to do better in Indonesia after losing in the opening round in India to Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke and China’s Lu Guangzu respectively.
Zii Jia, who is still finding his feet after an injury-hit 2025, has a tricky first round match against India’s world No. 38 H. S. Prannoy while world No. 39 Justin will play China’s Wang Zhengxing (No. 29).
In the women’s singles, Malaysia will be represented by K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching.
Taiwan’s Wen Chi-hsu stands in Letshanaa’s way in the opening round while Ling Ching will start from the qualifying round against Japan’s Kaoru Sugiyama.
