PETALING JAYA: Leong Jun Hao’s hopes of making a deep run at the Malaysian Masters came to a premature end after he was stopped by Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the opening round.
In a twist of irony, the match felt like a replay of the 2017 Malaysian International Challenge final, where Jun Hao lost to Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, who now happens to be Nguyen’s coach.
There was no redemption this time, despite the intense battle that went the distance.
After a gruelling 74 minutes, Jun Hao went down 21-10, 18-21, 9-21.
Despite the defeat, the 24-year-old remained proud of his effort, having only recently returned to action following a right arm injury.
“Nguyen changed his strategy in the second and third games, and I started to feel uncomfortable and lost my rhythm. He became more aggressive, and I just couldn’t adapt.
“This was my first match since recovering from my right arm injury, so I just did the best I could with my current condition," said Jun Hao.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, Loo Bing Kun-Toh Ee Wei advanced to the second round after battling past Taiwan’s Lu Ming-che-Hung En-tzu 20-22, 21-18, 21-15.
However, it was a different story for Chen Tang Jie-Chan Wen Tse, who fell 20-22, 15-21 to seventh seeds Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi of China.
