PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh (pic)had to give the Malaysian International Challenge a miss as he is still ill-prepared.
The 19-year-old Justin, who is slowly regaining his full fitness since undergoing a surgery in April after rupturing his left Achilles tendon, was supposed to make a comeback in the local meet at the Arena Badminton Perak in Ipoh today.
Although he badly wants to play, his condition has not reached the optimal level to resume competitive action.
Justin’s withdrawal from the tournament was confirmed by men’s singles coach Datuk Tey Seu Bock in a statement released by Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) on social media.
“Justin’s health and recovery are our top priority,” said Seu Bock.
“While he is progressing well, tests to determine his return to competition indicates he requires more time.
“After consulting with the sports medicine and conditioning team, we have reached the decision to pull him out of the tournament in Perak.”
Second seed Justin, who was supposed to open his campaign against world No. 225 Hussein Zayan Shaheed of Maldives, was the highest-ranked men’s singles player in the competition.
In his absence now, the focus will shift to third seed and world No. 79 Soong Joo Ven, seventh seed Ong Zhen Yi (No. 132) and eighth seed Chua Kim Sheng (No. 143).
Prior to the injury, Justin was fast-tracked into the senior squad last November and had progressed rapidly, winning the Uganda International Challenge title and finished second in the lower-tiered event in Iran in February.
He also reached the semi-finals in his first World Tour event – the China Masters in March.
Justin had reached a career-high No. 54 in April but has since dropped to No. 75 due to his long layoff.
