Indonesia Open: Leong Grabs his Moment
Big names continued to fall by the wayside at the KAPAL API Indonesia Open 2024; among the casualties in the first half of the day was Chou Tien Chen, crowd favourite and 2019 champion.
· DEV SUKUMAR
And who should be on the winning side and into his first Super 1000 quarterfinal than Leong Jun Hao, having a dream second week after a quarterfinal at the Singapore Open 2024. Having beaten Anthony Sinisuka Ginting last week and Jonatan Christie yesterday, Leong has the alchemist’s touch now, and it didn’t desert him against Chou. The Malaysian stayed sharp and kept up his high-intensity game, pushing the pedal at the right moments to come away victorious at 21-18 13-21 21-17.
“Of course I feel great. Chou is a tough and experienced opponent, I know he could come back even when I was leading,” said the world No.32. “He was getting closer, and I was trying to think point by point. Because of the conditions he got more aggressive after the interval in the third game. I just tried to take as many shots as possible and waited for my chance. I just kept my gameplay and confidence up in recent weeks. The pressure is on my opponents and they are not familiar with my style.”
Chou wasn’t crestfallen with the result; his focus, he said, was on the Olympics.