PETALING JAYA: Justin Hoh will have to be at his best against South Korea’s Yoo Tae-bin if he hopes to reach his first World Tour semi-final of the season at the Taiwan Open.
Justin is Malaysia’s sole remaining representative in Taiwan after fighting back to beat Indonesia’s Pradishka Bagas 14-21, 21-11, 21-14 in the second round.
The world No. 50 has yet to reach the circuit’s semi-final since finishing runner-up at the Macau Open last August.
He came close to ending that wait at the Australian Open in June but fell to Indonesia’s Moh Zaki Ubaidillah in the quarter-finals.
Standing in his way today is world No. 73 Tae-bin, who had beaten Justin at the Malaysia Super 100 last October.
Justin’s compatriot Lee Zii Jia, meanwhile, was full of praise of reigning All-England champion Lin Chun-yi after losing 20-22, 21-11, 18-21 to the Taiwanese player in the second round on yesterday.
“He is definitely more mature than before. After all, he has won a major competition, the All-England title.
“Whether it is confidence, overall thinking or playing style, he is much more mature than before,” Zii Jia told Taiwanese media after the match.
The Malaysian insisted fitness was not to blame for the defeat, saying his inability to maintain his focus after the change of ends in the deciding game ultimately proved costly.
“Looking at my performance alone, I think it was pretty good, but I have high expectations for myself. Plus, I was leading in the third game and then got reversed, so it’s really hard to accept this result.
“My physical condition wasn’t a big problem. The main issue was that I couldn’t maintain my focus after switching sides in the third game, and I made too many mistakes,” he said.
Eogene Ewe also bowed out after going down 17-21, 20-22 to world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan.
Malaysia will also be banking on women’s doubles pair Low Zi Yu-Noraqilah Maisarah Ramdan, who will be looking to continue their giant-killing run when they take on Thailand’s Hathaithip Mijad-Napapakorn Tungkasatan in the quarter-finals today.
Zi Yu-Noraqilah pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament by eliminating world No. 11 Hsu Yin-hui-Lin Jhih-yun 20-22, 21-13, 21-11 in the second round yesterday.
Malaysia will also have a representative in the men’s doubles quarter-finals after Aaron Chia-Aaron Tai defeated Taiwan’s Lai Po-yu-Tsai Fu-cheng 21-16, 21-13.
They will face either Indonesia’s Rian Ardianto-Daniel Edgar or Taiwan’s second seeds Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan for a place in the semi-finals.
