Trailblazer: Leong Jun Hao beat fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia 10-21, 21-18, 22-20 in the semi-finals to book a spot in the final.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao’s long-awaited entry into a Super 500 final has finally come, and he has no intention of slowing down on his current form at the Japan Masters.
The Malaysian world No. 31 continued his trailblazing run in Kumamoto after leaving fourth seed Jonatan Christie of Indonesia stunned in the semi-finals with a 10-21, 21-18, 22-20 win to book a spot in the final.
The 25-year-old Jun Hao fell in the first game, but his mindset switched in the second game where he launched his comeback attack.
“In the second game, I just didn’t think about anything. I had nothing to lose, so I played each point one by one,” he said.
“I had to fight for every point and not give my opponent any easy opportunities to win points, I had to make it difficult for him.
“I got my momentum going from there, all I had to do was return the shuttle over the net.’’
In the third set, although it looked as if Jonatan was going to walk away with the win as he was leading 17-10, Jun Hao did the unexpected and caught up, tying the game at 18-18, before taking the win from the All England champion.
Jun Hao had already taken down higher-ranked players on his way to the final, beating second seed Japanese shuttler Kodai Naraoka in the quarter-finals, Koki Watanabe in the second round, and India’s Lakshya Sen in the first round.
Jun Hao is the first men’s singles player from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) to enter a World Tour final this year.
But his challenge still remains tough as he will meet China’s Li Shifeng in the final today after the seventh seed took down top seed Viktor Axelsen of Denmark 21-16, 21-15 in the semi-finals yesterday.
Meanwhile, the fairytale run of men’s doubles pair Tan Wee Kiong-Noor Mohd Azriyn Ayub ended in the semi-finals after Japan’s Takuro Hoki-Yugo Kobayashi beat them 21-12, 21-15.
Third seed mixed doubles duo Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie also crashed out in the final four as they fell 21-18, 20-22, 14-21 to Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran.
