Man on a mission: Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin is desperate to improve his ranking.
PETALING JAYA: Malaysia’s professional men’s singles shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin is ready to heap more misery on compatriot Leong Jun Hao when the two meet in the first round of the Australian Open in Sydney next Tuesday.
Jun Hao is currently under heavy criticism after producing an inconsistent run despite being Malaysia’s No. 1 men’s singles player.
The world No. 22 has suffered five early exits in the opening round since the Korean Open followed by three European tournaments which were the Denmark Open, French Open and Hylo Open and most recently the Japan Masters this week.
Aidil, who sits at No. 47 in the world, is desperate to improve his ranking as he chases a place among the top 32 which would allow him to compete in higher tier tournaments.
With Jun Hao struggling to regain his form, Aidil hopes to take advantage of the situation and secure a win over his teammate.
“To be honest I do not really mind who I face because my priority is to deliver my best performance,” said Aidil.
“Maybe I saw Jun Hao’s performance not being very good and I am not sure how many tournaments he has exited early but I see this as a chance for me to beat him.”
Aidil, however, remains cautious as next week’s clash in Sydney could still be unpredictable although both of them had trained together in the national camp before he was dropped in June last year.
Aidil and Jun Hao have met twice with both matches going in Jun Hao’s favour.
They have not faced each other for quite some time with their last encounter taking place in the Thailand Open qualifiers in 2023.
“We trained together for many years in BAM and we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses but I have been out for a year and maybe he is better now or maybe I have improved,” he added.
