MALAYSIA MASTERS: UNFORTUNATE DAY FOR SINGLES CAMP, NO REPRESENTATIVES IN SECOND ROUND

KUALA LUMPUR, May 21 (Bernama) -- It was a bad day in the office for Malaysia’s singles camp, as all representatives - men’s and women’s – in the competition missed out on a chance to clear the opening round of the Malaysia Masters 2025 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil, here today.

Top national men’s singles player Leong Jun Hao got off to a strong start, taking the first game 21-10 against Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen but the world number 33 mounted a brilliant comeback to silence the home crowd, clinching the next two games 21-18, 21-9 to book his place in the second round after a gruelling one hour and 14 minutes battle.

When met after the match, Jun Hao, the world number 25, admitted that he struggled to adapt to Nguyen’s aggressive shift in tactics in the second and third games.

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“I must admit that I was not comfortable in the change of gameplay during the second and third sets. I was a little unwell but that was not the factor that contributed to the loss,” he told reporters at the mixed zone, here today.

Jun Hao, who skipped last week’s Thailand Open 2025 due to a hand injury, has now faced early eliminations in six consecutive tournaments since the start of the year.

Meanwhile, despite winning the first game 22-20, things took a turn for the worse for national shuttler Ng Tze Yong, who was forced to retire while leading 4-3, believed to be due to a right knee injury, in the second game against Angus Ng Ka Long of Hong Kong.

Tze Yong appeared to fall awkwardly while attempting to return a shot from his opponent and was then seen limping as he walked off and unable to continue the match.

In the meantime, another shuttler Justin Hoh was also sent packing by fourth seed Kodai Naraoka from Japan, 14-21, 20-22 in 56-minutes.

Justin admitted that he failed to keep his cool to play his first Malaysia Masters, which had affected his performance against Naraoka.

“I was feeling a bit nervous. I could not sleep last night. Not easy to play Naraoka but I had prepared to overcome my opponent but in the end I am still happy with my performance today,” he said.

Meanwhile, two other Malaysian women’s singles representatives - K. Letshanaa and Goh Jin Wei - were also booted out in the first round.

The 21-year-old Letshanaa let slip a promising start after taking the opening game 21-10, only to lose momentum and fall to China’s Han Qian Xi, 19-21, 10-21.

Currently ranked world number 51, Letshanaa admitted she lost focus after leading the match, which allowed world number 48 Qian Xi to mount a strong comeback and extend her head-to-head dominance to four straight wins over the Malaysian.

Jin Wei also endured a tough outing, going down to former two-time Malaysia Masters champion and sixth seeded veteran Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand, 7-21, 15-21.

Commenting on her fifth consecutive defeat to Ratchanok, the independent shuttler said there is still a huge gap between her and the 2013 world champion particularly in terms of speed and power on court.

-- BERNAMA