Jun Hao clears opener but tough opponent awaits in last 16 at China Open
PETALING JAYA : National singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao, who had suffered six first-round exits at the BWF World Tour championships this year, made amends at the China Open today to move into the second round.
The world No 26 defeated the 13th ranked Japanese player Kenta Nishimoto in straight games of 21-16, 21-18 at the Super 1000 event which offers a total cash prize of US$2 million (RM8.4 million).
Jun Hao, the lone Malaysian representative in the men's singles after Lee Zii Jia withdrew due to an injury, took 44 minutes to win the match at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium in Changzhou.
Jun Hao, 26, has now beaten the 31-year-old Kenta three times in their five encounters so far.
However, a tough second-round match awaits Jun Hao as he will meet world champion and current world No 1 Kunvalut Vitidsarn of Thailand.
The furthest Jun Hao has reached in the 11 tournaments he had competed this year was the quarter-finals at the Singapore Open in May.
Earlier in the day, Malaysia's world No 4 mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei cleared their opener defeating US pair Presley Smith-Jennie Gai 22-21, 21-12.
Also through to the second round are Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien who had to battle for more than an hour before defeating Indian pair Rohan Kapoor-Shivani Ruthvika Gadde 25-27, 21-16, 21-14. The Malaysians are ranked No 34, a rung below the Indians.
However, their compatriots world No 13 duo Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin were knocked out in the first round 15-21, 16-21, by the much lower ranked Chinese pair Gao Jia Xuan-Wu Meng Ying.
The championship offers US$140,000 (RM592,718) to the winners of the singles events while the runners-up get US$68,000 (RM287,891). As for the doubles events, the top prize money is US$148,000 (RM626,587) with the runners-up pocketing US$40,000 (RM169,348).
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