Dangerous rivals: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah will play Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian of China in the Hong Kong Open semi-finals today.— Reuters
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao came agonisingly close to a breakthrough win but fell just short, bowing out of the Hong Kong Open after a heart-stopping battle against China’s Li Shifeng in the quarter-finals.
Jun Hao held match point at 20-19 in the decider but could not deliver the final blow, eventually going down 20-22, 21-14, 20-22 in a gruelling 78-minute clash at the Hong Kong Coliseum in Kowloon yesterday.
It was the world No. 23’s sixth defeat in seven meetings against the fourth-ranked Shifeng.
Despite the defeat, the 26-year-old can hold his head high after pushing the Chinese ace hard until the end.
It was also Jun Hao’s second quarter-final finish of the year after reaching the same stage in the Singapore Open in June.
“My strategy worked in the match but it was not good enough to win in the end,” said a disappointed Jun Hao in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Leong Jun Hao. — Reuters“I tried everything I could. Perhaps luck was not on my side. I will try to recover from this and I hope to return stronger.”
With the defeat, he will not join Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah into the semi-final action in the Open today.
Yesterday, Pearly-Thinaah booked their spot in the semi-finals with a convincing 21-12, 21-15 win over world No. 20 teammates Teoh Mei Xing-Go Pei Kee.
While China’s world No. 1 women’s doubles shuttlers Liu Shengshu-Tan Ning have exited the Hong Kong Open, Pearly-Thinaah’s path to the title is still not clear as they face a tough challenge against another dangerous Chinese duo, Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian in the last four today.
Shengshu-Tan Ning suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Japan’s Rui Hirokami-Sayaka Hobara in the second round on Thursday.
Pearly-Thinaah though know that their main rivals’ defeat will not make it any easier for them as they have a poor record against Yifan-Shuxian.
The World Championships silver medallists have lost their last four encounters against the world No. 4 pair.
Pearly-Thinaah’s sole win over Yifan-Shuxian came in the Indian Open second round in January where the latter were forced to retire while trailing 4-14 due to injury.
“We don’t want to think much about other matches. We just want to focus on ourselves and our strategy for our next match,” Thinaah told BWF.
“There are still things we need to improve, especially we need to cut down simple errors.
“We have to remain consistent. We have to remind each other on staying focused in every rally.”
Pearly-Thinaah are eyeing their third consecutive final in the competition.
The duo finished runners-up to Indonesia’s Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Ramadhanti in 2023 before capturing the title by beating Shengsu-Tan Ning last year.
Pearly-Thinaah are also keen to continue their fine form after reaching five finals so far this year.
The pair claimed the Thailand Open crown and finished second in the Indonesian Open, Japan Open and Indonesian Masters to add to their impressive runners-up finish in the world meet in Paris.
