PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao knows what it takes to progress and overcome setbacks in the national team. After all, he has been in the team for seven years.
And he says the longevity in the team depends on a player.
“Coaches will help but you have to go through the hard parts on your own.
“Everyone needs to do their best and prove that they have the ability to stay (in the national team) and play better,” said Jun Hao.
“I think in the end, everything depends on the player.”
Jun Hao is now one of the longest serving singles players in the national team and his hard work has taken him to the No. 1 position in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).
“The results prove that I am improving and hopefully, I can keep getting better.”
Jun Hao showed his ability when he captured the 2017 Asian Junior Championships but took some time to rise up the ranks due to injuries.
The 25-year-old though never gave up and kept his spot in the BA of Malaysian and his perseverance has seen him rising to the world No. 29 position and he has overtaken the injured Ng Tze Yong, who dropped to No. 32 due to his persistent back injury this year.
Besides Jun Hao and Tze Yong, BAM have retained Justin Hoh and Eogene Ewe in the senior team while Jacky Kok, Ong Zhen Yi, Chua Kim Sheng and Lee Jan Jireh were axed.
Jun Hao also credited his outgoing coaches Hendrawan and Datuk Tey Seu Bock for his improvement.
“I want to thank coach Hendrawan and coach Seu Bock for helping me to be where I am now,” said Jun Hao.
“I have been working under them for quite a few years and they have been guiding me well. I learned a lot from them.”
Hendrawan is set to leave BAM at the end of this month after 15 years while Seu Bock has been moved to the junior team.
Former women’s singles coach K. Yogendran has been moved to the men’s singles team and will be joined by Alvin Chew, who guided the junior team.
BAM are also looking out for a new head coach for the singles team.
On the changes, Jun Hao said: “We need to accept these changes as these are not in our hands. We just need to work together with the new coaches and hopefully become stronger.
“I have worked under Yogendran for a short while before this. Every coach have their strengths and we need time to adapt to their training programme.”
Jun Hao is out to end his year on a high by doing well in his remaining tournaments, starting with the Arctic Open which begins today in Vantaa, Finland.
He has a tough opening match against Hong Kong’s world No. 16 Lee Cheuk Yiu.
Meanwhile, defending champion and world No. 5 Lee Zii Jia will open his campaign against Frenchman Christo Popov.
