PETALING JAYA: Leong Jun Hao has broken into the world’s top 20 for the first time but the rising singles shuttler knows he must now set his sights even higher.
The 26-year-old climbed two spots from No. 22 to No. 20 in the latest world rankings, boosted by encouraging runs in the Hong Kong Open and China Masters.
In both tournaments, Jun Hao pushed China’s world No. 4 Li Shifeng to three games before bowing out in the quarter-finals in Hong Kong and the second round in China.
Singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen is happy with Jun Hao’s progress and urged his charge to aim for more breakthroughs.
“World ranking is an interesting size, on one hand it shows how good your best 10 results are over the last 12 months in comparison with all other players. Which means it’s an acceptable measurement in terms of your stability,” said Jonassen.
“However, reaching No. 20 is a very tough task and any player should be proud of this achievement, but it also should only be a stepping stone towards more and better results.”
Jonassen hopes the new ranking will spur on Jun Hao to perform well in his upcoming tournaments, starting with the Korean Open.
The 2017 Asian Junior champion will open his campaign today in Suwon against world No. 21 Alwi Farhan of Indonesia.
Jonassen is expecting a tough match for Jun Hao against Alwi, who captured the Macau Open title last month.
“I believe confidence comes more from your last performance and the work you are putting into your game,” said Jonassen.
“Alwi will for sure be a tough opponent for Jun Hao.”
This will be the first meeting between Jun Hao and Alwi in international competitions.
Jonassen and men’s singles coach K. Yogendran though will have had the opportunity to analyse the Indonesian’s game after he beat another Malaysian Justin Hoh in the Macau Open final.
Meanwhile, Justin has a tricky first-round match against China’s world No. 19 Wang Zhengxing.
