PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s Justin Hoh (pic) kept alive his hopes of making it to the main draw of the Swiss Open in Basel after clearing his first qualifying round hurdle.
The reigning Malaysia Games (Sukma) champion beat Valentin Singer of France 21-17, 21-19 and will take on Sathish Kumar of India in the final men’s singles qualifying match.
Justin, who remained in Europe after the German Open and Orleans Masters, sparred with foreign shuttlers in Paris last week.
World No. 50 Justin, who fell in the second round at the German Open and failed to qualify in Orleans, had sparring sessions with France’s Arnaud Merkle, India’s Kiran George and Hong Kong’s Jason Gunawan.
“Justin gained valuable experience training in Paris. It was a different way of preparing,” said singles coach Kenneth Jonassen.
Independent player Tan Jia Jie also won his first qualifying match, beating Dane Mathias Solgaard 21-19, 10-21, 21-16. Jia Jie will play another Dane Magnus Johannesen to decide one of the four spots for the main draw of men’s singles.
Justin, Jia Jie and world No. 50 Leong Jun Hao are the only Malaysian representatives in the men’s singles with world No. 9 Lee Zii Jia withdrawing earlier.
Jun Hao will be looking to bounce back this week following a forgettable All-England debut where he lost to world No. 2 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the first round.
However, he faces a tricky opening round match against Japan’s Koo Takahashi.
