Men's singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao in good spirits during a training session ahead of the Asia Team Championships. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao is out to help maintain Malaysia’s recent good record in the men’s team event in the Asia Team Cham–pionships.
Jun Hao was part of the team that made back-to-back finals in the 2020 and 2022 editions in Manila and at home in Setia Alam respectively.
The team had finished runners-up in 2020 after losing 1-3 to fierce rivals Indonesia in the final before exacting sweet revenge by beating the latter 3-0 to capture the title for the first time at home.
The tournament is set to be held at home in the same venue again but Jun Hao is expecting a tougher challenge.
“It was great to win the title last time,” said Jun Hao after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“The other countries did not send their strongest teams but we still did well to win after losing in the final in 2020.
“It was our first time winning this tournament and we had not won a team title for so long.
This time, it will not be easy as some countries are fielding strong players. Hopefully, we can do well again. My own target is to do everything to win a point for the team,” added Jun Hao.
Jun Hao was initially not selected for the team but was called up after youngster Justin Hoh was forced to miss the tourney due to a knee injury.
“The coaches told me that they wanted to give the youngsters a chance,” said Jun Hao.
“I will be competing in this tournament for the third time and it is really different for me since I first made my debut in 2020. Now, I will be relied on to contribute a point. There’s more pressure but this is a good challenge for me,” added Jun Hao.
Malaysia have been drawn against Taiwan, Kazakhstan and Brunei in Group B and should have no problems reaching the quarter-finals by finishing in the top two in the group.
The tournament also acts as the qualifiers for the Thomas Cup Finals from April 27-May 5 in Chengdu, China.
