KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7 — Malaysia Open 2025 debutants Leong Jun Hao (men’s singles) and Hoo Pang Ron-Cheng Su Yin (mixed doubles) gave it everything they had but still fell short as they crashed out in the opening round at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil today.
Jun Hao blew hot and cold en route to a 17-21, 21-16, 13-21 first-round loss to world number 16 Lu Guang Zu of China in the season-opening Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour Super 1000 tournament.
World number 29 Jun Hao admitted that it proved to be too tall an order for him.
“Perhaps, he (Guang Zu) is more experienced and he did well, especially during the crucial points. In the third game, I gave away easy points, making life more difficult for myself,” he said.
Pang Ron-Su Yin, meanwhile, could only rue a missed opportunity after going down fighting 26-28, 21-14, 22-24 to Taiwan’s Ming Che Lu-Hung En-Tzu.
Pang Ron was gutted at failing to capitalise on their commanding seven-point leads - 12-5 and 13-6 - as well as missing five match-point opportunities en route to losing the first game.
“In the first game, we led by a lot but they fought back gallantly, After losing the first game, we were a bit shaken, mentally,” he said.
Malaysia’s mixed doubles camp suffered a double blow when the professional pair of Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien were also shown the exit by Indonesia’s fifth-seeded Dejan Fernandisyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, who won 21-12, 21-13.
The only consolation for Chiew Sen is that she can now fully focus on the women’s doubles event as she and her partner, Vivian Hoo get ready to take on Taiwan’s Cheng Yu-Pei-Sun Yu-Hsing later today.
While the Malaysian shuttlers struggled to get going, there was no such problem for women’s singles defending champion An Se Young.
The South Korean ace began her title defence in style by cruising to a 21-12, 21-13 win over Denmark’s Line Christophersen in just 36 minutes. — Bernama
