PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao is out to use his encouraging showing in the Sudirman Cup as a springboard to hit form in the World Tour.
Jun Hao has reached a career high No. 24 in the latest world rankings after notably pulling off a stunning victory over Japan’s world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka in a group match in the mixed team event in Xiamen, China, which ended on Sunday.
The 25-year-old also beat world No. 60 Frenchman Arnaud Merkle but lost out to China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi in Malaysia’s 0-3 defeat to the hosts and eventual champions in the last eight.
Despite going down to Yuqi, Jun Hao has gained some much needed confidence from his overall performance in the tourney and is keen to continue his promising form when he returns to the World Tour in the Thailand Open from May 13-18.
The national No. 2 will also compete in the Malaysian Masters (May 20-25), Singapore Open (May 27-June 1) and Indonesian Open (June 3-8).
“Overall, my performance in the Sudirman Cup was OK. I did better during the crucial points against Naraoka,” said Jun Hao after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
“I didn’t start the year well but I have been getting better recently and I have gained some confidence.
‘‘I hope to keep improving and moving forward.”
Jun Hao is keen to do better in individual tournaments after suffering early round defeats in all his outings so far this year including the All-England in March and Asian Championships in April.
The 2017 Asian Junior champion has needed time to adapt to singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen’s training methods but is slowly starting to find his feet.
Dane Jonassen started work in the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January and has been trying to make a few changes to Jun Hao’s game.
“I’m slowly getting used to coach Kenneth’s training style but there’s still room for improvement,” said Jun Hao.
“In the match against Yuqi, I found it tough as he has more variety in his game and has the ability to limit his opponents’ strengths.
‘‘So, I need to learn from this and work on my own game.
“I want to consistently play my own game well in the tournaments after this.”
