PETALING JAYA: It’s not often that a player gets to spar with a potential opponent before facing him on one of badminton’s biggest stages.
But men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao will have that rare opportunity when he trains with world No. 2 Anders Antonsen of Denmark ahead of the World Championships from Aug 25-31 in Paris.
Jun Hao will head to Copenhagen for a training camp from Aug 18-22 where Antonsen is expected to be present, before the Malaysian makes his debut in the world meet.
Based on the draw released on Wednesday, world No. 25 Jun Hao could go up against Antonsen if both reach the last eight.
Singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen believes the sparring sessions are a crucial part of Jun Hao’s preparations for the world meet.
“Jun Hao’s preparations so far have been good but as always the final 10 days before the tournament are very important,” said Jonassen.
“The training camp is crucial as we can fine tune many details there. We will have high quality real match play and the intensity will be even higher.
“I believe Anders will be there (in Copenhagen) during the training session,” he said.
Despite starting as the underdog, Jonassen believes Jun Hao has a good chance to go far in Paris.
The 26-year-old has been given a favourable start in the competition as he will avoid the world’s top 10 players in the first two rounds.
Jun Hao should have no problems beating Switzerland’s Tobias Kuenzi in his opening match before a meeting with either Japan’s world No. 14 Kenta Nishimoto or Taiwan’s world No. 28 Wang Tzu-wei in the second round.
The going gets tougher for the 2017 Asian Junior champion if he makes it into the third round as he could face another Taiwanese, world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen.
“I think we can be happy with this draw. There are chances if Jun Hao can play at his very highest level and stay consistent,” said Jonassen.
Meanwhile, another Malaysian men’s singles representative Lee Zii Jia will be making his much awaited comeback in the prestigious meet after a long injury layoff.
Zii Jia has been struggling with an ankle injury this year and last competed in the All-England in March.
The independent player will open his campaign in Paris against South Korea’s world No. 38 Jeon Hyeok-jin.
If he gets past Hyeok-jin, Zii Jia could take on China’s world No. 4 Li Shifeng in the second round.
