At full stretch: Malaysia men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh is through to the men’s singles quarter-finals of the Malaysia Super 100 badminton tournament. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Justin Hoh is ready to shoulder the burden as the last Malaysian left in the men’s singles in the Malaysia Super 100.
Justin pulled off an impressive 21-19, 17-21, 21-12 win over Indonesia’s Shesar Hiren in 67 minutes to march into the quarter-finals at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
It was a good win for the 20-year-old against Shesar, who was ranked as high as No. 17 in the world four years ago before experiencing a dip in form and dropping to No. 82 in the latest rankings.
Justin, who is currently ranked No. 50 in the world, will take on Taiwan’s top seed and world No. 33 Chi Yu-jen next for a place in the last four.
Yu-jen beat another Malaysian Tan Jia Jie 21-13, 21-13 while it was also the end of the road though for Cheam June Wei and Samuel Lee.
June Wei narrowly lost 21-14, 16-21, 18-21 to Taiwan’s Huang Yu-kai while Samuel went down 21-18, 5-21, 11-21 to Japan’s Riku Hatano.
“Being the last Malaysian left in the men’s singles gives me more motivation to keep on going,” said Justin.
“Shesar is a very experienced player and it was not easy to play against him, so I’m very happy to win today (yesterday).
“Towards the end of second game, he played faster and I could not keep up. I had to play patiently and increase my speed in the decider.
“He’s a top player, so beating him is a big step for me,” added Justin.
Justin knows that he needs to lift his game again in the last eight against Yu-jen.
Based on the head-to-head records, Justin has a slight advantage after stunning the Taiwanese in the Taiwan Masters in June.
“He is higher ranked than me, so I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself but I will just give my all,” said Justin.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, world junior champions Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing bowed out after losing 16-21, 19-21 to Taiwan’s Wu Hsuan-yi-Ye Hong-wei 16-21, 19-21.
