PETALING JAYA: Being the underdog could benefit men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao in his All-England debut from March 11-16 in Birmingham.
Jun Hao has been handed a difficult task from the start against Indonesia’s world No. 3 and defending champion Jonatan Christie.
The 25-year-old has pulled off impressive wins over Jonatan in two of his past three meetings in the latter’s home ground in the Indonesian Open first round and in the Japan Masters semi-final and needs to pull off another special performance to make it into the second round.
Singles head coach Kenneth Jonassen acknowledged that Jun Hao faces a daunting challenge but believes that not being the favourite could work in his charge’s favour.
“It is a tough draw for Jun Hao. Meeting the defending champion and top three player in the world makes up for a challenging debut at the All-England,” said Kenneth.
“But coming in as the underdog can sometimes benefit you. Jun Hao also will have some belief (after beating Jonatan twice) but he needs to stay humble as this is a totally different scene to play the Indonesian.”
While Jonatan is the favourite to win, Jun Hao can take heart after his battling showings against the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist both in Indonesia and Japan.
In Jakarta, the world No. 26 dropped the second game but fought brilliantly to come away with a 21-13, 16-21, 21-12 victory to silence the passionate home fans in the famous Istora Senayan.
Last November, Jun Hao memorably came back from 10-17 down in the third game to stun Jonatan 10-21, 21-18, 22-20 to reach his first World Tour Super 500 final in Kumamoto.
The Indonesian though did beat the Malaysian once in the Denmark Open first round last October and will be on high alert to prevent an upset.
If Jun Hao manages to topple Jonatan, he will face either India’s world No. 10 Lakshya Sen or Japan’s world No. 11 Koki Watanabe for a place in the last eight.
Meanwhile, national No. 1 and world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia has a tricky opening match against Hong Kong’s world No. 20 Angus Ng Ka Long.
Angus, who is coached by former Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann, has troubled Zii Jia before, beating him four times in their past six meetings.
The 2021 champion though has triumphed in their last five encounters and will be out to claim another win.
Zii Jia could take on Singapore’s 2021 world title winner and close friend Loh Kean Yew if he gets past Angus.
China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi will likely be lying in wait for Zii Jia if he makes it into the quarter-final.
