Breakthrough: Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin powers into the semi-finals after beating Singapore’s Jason Teh yesterday. —AZMAN GHANI/The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: A change in mindset is paying dividends for shuttler Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin.
Just two weeks after capturing his maiden individual title at the Indonesian International Challenge, Aidil stormed into the men’s singles semi-finals of the KL Masters after defeating Singapore’s Jason Teh 21-18, 5-21, 21-13 in the last eight at Titiwangsa Stadium yesterday.
It will be Aidil’s first World Tour semi-finals after struggling to establish himself in the senior level in the national team.
The 23-year-old attributed his improvement in form to having better focus during training.
“I have been working on this as I tend to lose focus during matches before this. I’m focusing better in training and it has reflected in the results,” said the world No. 88 Aidil.
“Reaching the semi-finals here after winning the title in Indonesia is a good result for me. My aim is to break into the top 70 in the world as fast as possible.”
Aidil though faces a tough task in the last four against Taiwan’s world No. 37 Lee Chia-hao.
“The pressure is on the Taiwanese as he is the top seed in the tournament. I’ll try to go all out.”
Meanwhile, it was a good day in the men’s singles when Leong Jun Hao also made it into the semi-finals after beating Taiwan’s 2022 world junior champion Kuo Kuan-lin 21-16, 21-15.
Jun Hao will play South Korean qualifier Choi Ji-hoon next for a place in the final.
RESULTS (All quarter-finals)
(Malaysians only)
Men’s singles: Adil Sholeh Ali Sadikin bt Jason Teh 21-18, 5-21, 21-13; Leong Jun Hao bt Kuo Kuan-lin (Tpe) 21-16, 21-15.
Men’s doubles: Tan Wee Kiong-Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub bt Sabar Karyaman-Moh Reza (Ina) 21-17, 13-21, 21-16; Low Hang Yee-Ng Eng Cheong bt Chen Zhi-ray-Lu Chen (Tpe) 21-16, 21-19.
Women’s singles: Kim Joo-eun (Kor) bt K. Letshanaa 21-13, 16-21, 21-12.
Mixed doubles: Choong Hon Jian-Go Pei Kee bt Tanupat Viriyangkura-Alisa Sapniti (Tha) 21-11, 21-12; Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See w.o. Wu Hsuan-yi- Yang Chu-yun (Tpe).
