KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — The ability to compete with some of the world’s most famous players at the 2024 Thomas Cup in Chengdu, China, is the starting point of the rise of national men’s singles player Leong Jun Hao.
Leong, ranked 28th in the world, said his convincing performance included surprising two players higher ranked than him, namely Angus Ng Ka Long (23rd) from Hong Kong and Koki Watanabe (21st) from Japan, when representing the country at the 2024 Thomas Cup inspired him to show his stripes at the individual tournament.
The 24-year-old admitted to feeling relieved after being able to prove himself capable of performing well in the individual tournament, despite realising that outsiders thought he was only able to shine in the team tournament earlier.
“Maybe from there (Thomas Cup 2024), I will be able to play with more top players, and after that, I will take some time to build momentum for the next few tournaments.
“I was also able to learn from the strength of other top players in the world when facing them in several recent tournaments,” he said after a training session today.
In the Thomas Cup 2024, Leong helped Malaysia crush Hong Kong 5-0 in the opening action of Group D by coming from behind to surprise Angus 17-21, 21-12, 21-15, followed by a victory over Watanabe 21-13, 21-10 who saw the national team eliminate Japan 3-1 in the quarter-finals.
The Kuala Lumpur native then scored a sensational result, destroying Anthony Sinisuka Ginting’s dream of defending the Singapore Open 2024 title with a 21-14, 10-21, 21-8 upset in the second round last month.
Last week, he managed to overcome the intimidating vocal support of the fans at Istora Senayan to defeat the host representative and world number three player Jonatan Christie 13-21, 21-16, 21-12 in the first round of the Indonesia Open 2024.
Leong, who continued to advance to the second round of the Super 1000 tournament, scored a victory over the world’s 13th player from Taiwan, Chou Tien Chen, 21-18, 13-21, 21-17 before succumbing to the Asian Games champion Li Shi Feng of China, 11-21, 12-21, in the quarterfinals.
In the meantime, he hopes to maintain the consistency of matching other world-class players in the future.
At the same time, the former 2017 Asian youth champion hopes to break into the world’s top 20 players, as well as to target at least one title by the end of this year.
The last time Leong won a title was at the Kuala Lumpur Masters 2023 in November by defeating Taiwanese player Lee Chia Hao, 22-20, 21-13, in the final.
— Bernama
