Hao sees new challenge as morale booster despite higher pressure
National men's singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao in action against Ireland's Nhat Nguyen in the first round of Malaysian Masters at Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil on Wednesday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Becoming the national No. 1 could be just the right tonic for men's singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao as he seeks to step up in the second half of the year.
Jun Hao, who has been inconsistent so far this year, is determined to raise his game after overtaking Lee Zii Jia in the world rankings.
The former moved up one spot to No. 25 in the latest rankings while the latter dropped two rungs to No. 28 last week after hardly competing this year due to an ankle injury.
While Jun Hao acknowledged that expectations will be higher on him, he is motivated by his new status.
"Definitely there is pressure but for me, becoming national No. 1 also boosts my spirits and I'm taking this as a new challenge," said Jun Hao after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.
"Earlier this year, my performances have not been good enough as I needed time to adapt and learn new things under coach Kenneth (Jonassen).
"Now, I believe I am getting better at knowing which strategies I need to use in matches."
Dane Jonassen joined the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in January as singles coaching director and has been working hard to turn Jun Hao's fortunes around.
Jun Hao's best performance this year came in the Singapore Open last month where he stunned Indonesia's world No. 4 Jonatan Christie en route to the quarter-finals.
The 25-year-old also showed glimpses of his ability when he pulled off sensational wins over China's world No. 5 Li Shifeng and Japan's world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka in the Indian Open in January and Sudirman Cup in April.
Jun Hao though has not managed to maintain his form and wants to change this in the second half of the year, starting with the back-to-back Japan Open from July 15-20 and China Open from July 22-27.
The 2017 Asian Junior champion has been making full use of more than a month of full training and believes the break from tournaments has been beneficial for him as he seeks to improve himself.
"There are big tournaments coming up and I have been focusing more on adding variety to my game during training," said Jun Hao.
"Usually, players hardly get much time to rest (due to the hectic tournament schedule), so I'm taking full advantage of having more than a month to prepare for the next competitions."
Meanwhile, Zii Jia will be making his return from injury in the Japan Open after last competing in the All-England in March.
The draw for the competition will be released on July 8.
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