PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Leong Jun Hao will need to bring his A-game if he is to reach his first quarter-final of the season at the Japan Open.
Jun Hao will take on France’s world No. 5 Christo Popov in the second round tomorrow.
The national men’s singles shuttler is in confident mood after beating Taiwan’s Chi Yu-jen 21-16, 21-16 in the first round yesterday.
The win was also sweet revenge for Jun Hao after he lost to the world No. 19 at the German Open in February.
“I had a good month of training and hopefully everything will continue to go well. I felt I had a good rhythm and pace in my game.”
“Yu-jen is a strong opponent, but I felt I got into my game quickly and adapted well to the pace of the match,” said Jun Hao in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Popov may be one of the world’s top players, but Jun Hao can draw confidence from having beaten the Frenchman twice before, at the 2023 Thailand Open and the 2017 World Junior Championships.
Jun Hao had competed in seven tournaments before the Japan Open this year but has yet to clear the early rounds.
It was all over for men’s doubles shuttlers Wan Arif Wan Junaidi-Yap Roy King, women’s singles shuttler Wong Ling Ching, mixed doubles pairs Chen Tang Jie-Clarissa San and Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien.
