PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao (pic) can participate in the KL Masters without any major concerns as his injury is in the process of healing.
During the semi-finals of the Arctic Open earlier this month, world No. 40 Jun Hao had to concede a walkover to his compatriot and world No. 11 Lee Zii Jia due to a left foot injury.
Jun Hao did not start the way he wanted after dropping the first game 16-21 but he remained composed and went toe-to-toe with Zii Jia before taking the second game 21-19 to force the decider.
However, Lady Luck was not on Jun Hao’s side as he picked up a foot injury and was forced to retire when he was trailing 7-11 in the rubber set.
Despite not being able to complete the match, Jun Hao deserved a pat on the back for not giving up when the chips were down and his overall performance in the Arctic meet proved that he is on the right track to regaining his peak form.
After his outing in the Arctic Open, Jun Hao did not dwell on the past as he only had around two weeks to recover from his injury and prepare for the KL Masters, which will be held at the Stadium Titiwangsa in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
“I’ll be competing in the KL Masters and my preparations have been going well so far,” said Jun Hao.
“I had to retire from the quarter-finals match (in Arctic Open) but the injury is healing and getting better now.”
Jun Hao, who is seeded second in the tournament, is Malaysia’s best hope of winning the title.
His main challengers are likely to be world No. 36 Lee Chia-hao of Taiwan and South Korea’s world No. 48 Jeon Hyeok-jin, who are the top and third seeds respectively.
Jun Hao achieved his career-high world ranking of 35th recently but has slipped five spots to 40th this week.
