Justin on brink of emulating legends Chong Wei, Lin Dan
The men's singles shuttler is just one win away from joining an elite group of Macau Open champions after storming into his first-ever World Tour final at the Super 300 event today.
The world No. 45 showed grit and maturity to battle past India's world No. 47 Tharun Mannepalli 19-21, 21-16, 21-16 in a tough 81-minute semi-final at the East Asian Games Dome.
His reward?
A place in Sunday's final, and a shot at adding his name to a star-studded roll of honour that includes Datuk Seri Lee Chong Wei, Kento Momota and former Olympic champions Lin Dan and Taufik Hidayat.
Justin, 21, is the first Malaysian to reach the men's singles final since Chong Wei, who lifted the title in 2009 and 2010.
It's a career breakthrough for the youngster, whose 2024 campaign had been dogged by inconsistency and early exits.
Before Macau, his best finish this season was a quarter-final appearance at the Taiwan Open in May — with first or second-round defeats in nine of his 10 outings.
He now faces a stern test in the final against rising Indonesian star Alwi Farhan.
The 2023 world junior champion, ranked No. 25 in the world, sent shockwaves through the tournament by thrashing second seed Lakshya Sen 21-16, 21-9 in just 39 minutes.
Alwi leads Justin 3-2 in their head-to-head record and also won their last clash — a three-game battle in the second round of last year's Macau Open.
But with momentum on his side and a shot at history in sight, Justin has never been better placed to flip the script.
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