Victorious: Leong Jun Hao beat Koki Watanabe of Japan (pic, below) 21-10, 16-21, 21-13 in the second round of the Japan Masters.
PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao has been taking down higher-ranked players on his way to the Japan Masters quarter-final, but he faces his toughest opponent yet.
World No. 31 Jun Hao pulled off another upset win in Kumamoto yesterday when he took down No. 11 Koki Watanabe of Japan in the second round.
The 25-year-old Malaysian took an hour and nine minutes to send Watanabe packing on his home turf, winning the match 21-10, 16-21, 21-13.
Jun Hao’s run in Japan has been a commendable one, having won against No. 17 Lakshya Sen of India in the opening round on Wednesday.
But Jun Hao now faces a steeper battle as second seed Kodai Naraoka of Japan awaits him in the quarter-finals today.
However, Jun Hao would have the upper hand in the fixture as he has won two of the previous three encounters with Naraoka, but the Japanese shuttler won the most recent meeting at the Japan Open in August.
If Jun Hao is able to get past Naraoka today, he could set up a clash with compatriot Lee Zii Jia in the semi-finals, that is if Zii Jia can beat Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the last eight.
Zii Jia has set himself up against Jonatan after fighting his way from behind against Taiwan’s Su Li-yang, winning the second round fixture 19-21, 21-8, 21-16 over the No. 34 shuttler.
After returning to action following an ankle injury sustained at the Arctic Open quarter-finals in Finland last month, world no. 7 Zii Jia is still finding his footing in Japan.
He was made to go the distance against compatriot Justin Hoh in the opening round of the tournament, dragging the match out to three games as he eventually won 21-16, 12-21, 21-17.
The match with fourth seed Jonatan today will be a tight battle for fifth seed Zii Jia, as both players have won five matches each between them, with Jonatan having the win at the recent encounter at the Asian Championships in April.
