PETALING JAYA: Familiar failings continue to haunt men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao.
Jun Hao’s campaign in the Japan Masters ended early after he suffered a heartbreaking 21-16, 13-21, 23-21 defeat in the first round at the hands of India’s veteran H. S. Prannoy at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium on Wednesday.
Again, the 26-year-old Malaysian could not finish off the match despite holding two match points at 20-19 and 21-20.
Jun Hao is still struggling to overcome his inability to find the killer touch in matches.
He suffered similar defeats to Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in the Korean Open first round, China’s Li Shifeng in the Hong Kong Open quarter-finals and Japan’s Kenta Nishimoto in the World Championships second round.
Singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen said that Jun Hao’s lack of physicality is holding him back.
“Jun Hao played with everything he had yesterday (Wednesday) but again lost out in the third game,” said Jonassen.
“Improvement is needed on speed and fitness levels to advance further as his consistency is dropping throughout the match.”
Overall, Jun Hao has endured a tough year as he only has two quarter-final finishes to show in the Hong Kong Open and Singapore Open.
Despite becoming the national No. 1 and ranked No. 22 in the world, the 2017 Asian Junior Champion has struggled with consistency.
In the Japan Masters, Jun Hao suffered a reversal of fortune after finishing runner up to Shifeng last year.
It was also worryingly his fifth first round exit in a row after similarly frustrating outings in the Korean Open, Denmark Open, French Open and Hylo Open.
Jun Hao last made it past the first hurdle in the China Masters in September where he lost to Shifeng in the second round.
With the SEA Games badminton competition coming up from Dec 7-14 in Thailand, Jun Hao does not have long to rectify his shortcomings.
Before the biennial Games, he will play in the Australian Open which starts next Tuesday in Sydney.
Jun Hao will open his campaign against fellow Malaysian Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin and will be hoping to end his winless run.
