PETALING JAYA: Leong Jun Hao’s struggles continued after he suffered another early exit, this time at the Denmark Open.
It has become a familiar pattern for Jun Hao, who has shown flashes of improvement only to find himself slipping back again.
The world No. 30 went down 6-21, 19-21 to Japan’s world No. 16 Koki Watanabe at the Jyske Bank Arena in Odense yesterday.
Although Watanabe was the higher-ranked player, Jun Hao had beaten the Japanese four times previously.
Jun Hao, however, admitted that he was far from his best in the match.
“In the first game, I felt I started a little slowly and was more defensive.
“In the second game, I tried to increase the pace and put him under pressure at every point,” said Jun Hao in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
The defeat was all the more frustrating as Jun Hao felt his preparations for Odense had gone well.
He had also gained a confidence boost at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games three weeks ago when he defeated Jonatan Christie, who was then the world No. 1, in the men’s team event.
“After the Asian Games, I tried to recover and had about a week to prepare for this tournament.
“Everything seemed okay, but I’m not too satisfied with my performance today (yesterday).”
National mixed doubles pair Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien also suffered a first-round exit.
Tien Ci-Chiew Sien started well against Taiwan’s seventh seeds Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Chan but could not maintain their momentum and eventually lost 21-19, 16-21, 19-21 in 55 minutes.
Compatriots Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing nearly suffered the same fate but managed to recover to beat Spain’s Ruben Garcia-Lucia Rodriguez 21-18, 21-16.
They face a tougher test next against Thailand’s fifth seeds Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran.
