PETALING JAYA: Leong Jun Hao could have given world No. 9 Li Shifeng an even tougher time had he settled into the match earlier in their second round clash at the World Championships in New Delhi on Wednesday.
National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen was encouraged by Jun Hao’s performance but felt the Malaysian took too long to find his rhythm against the Chinese shuttler.
Once Jun Hao settled down, he was able to match Shifeng and keep the pressure on, but his slow start eventually proved costly in a 19-21, 19-21 defeat.
“Unfortunately, Jun Hao took a little too long to adapt in the first game, but once he did, his level matched his opponent.
“Great comeback in the first game but not enough to secure the win. “Overall, he pushed Shifeng all the way today (Wednesday). There are still areas he can improve on and we will focus on these moving forward,” said Jonassen.
Jun Hao had already shown he could beat Shifeng, having defeated the Chinese shuttler at the same venue during the Indian Open eight months ago.
His exit brought an end to Malaysia’s challenge in the singles events, with Justin Hoh, K. Letshanaa and Wong Ling Ching having bowed out earlier.
Despite none of his players making a deep run in New Delhi, Jonassen was not too disappointed with their overall performances as they had come up against higher-ranked and more experienced opponents.
Debutant Justin went down 18-21, 8-21 to Taiwan’s All-England champion Lin Chun-yi of Taiwan in the first round.
Letshanaa was beaten 16-21, 9-21 by China’s third seed Wang Zhiyi in the second round, while Ling Ching also exited at the same stage after losing 18-21, 10-21 to Japan’s second seed Akane Yamaguchi.
