KUALA LUMPUR: Men's singles Leong Jun Hao will have an opportunity to avenge last week's defeat to former world No 1 Son Wan Ho of South Korea when they face off in the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters in Malang today.
Jun Hao, 23, defeated Cho Geonyeop of South Korea 12-21, 21-15, 21-7 today to reach his first World Tour-level semi-finals in four years, while Wan Ho edged China's Weng Hong Yang 21-18, 21-19.
Wan Ho, eager to make his presence felt again since retiring from the Korean national team last year, defeated Jun Hao 24-22, 23-21 in the quarter-finals of last week's Indonesia International Challenge, also in Malang.
"Wan Ho is still a solid player. I have to prepare really well for the match," said Jun Hao.
Since joining the senior team in 2018, Jun Hao has yet to win a World Tour title.
He came closest to winning one when he finished runner-up to Indonesia's Tommy Sugiarto at the 2018 Thailand Masters.
Asked if he's eager to take advantage of this inspiring run to break the duck, Jun Hao refused to get carried away.
"I am not thinking about the final yet, I only want to focus on the present," he stressed.
Jun Hao's run to the last four means Malaysia will be represented in both the semi-finals.
Earlier, independent shuttler Cheam June Wei knocked out top seed Ng Tze Yong with a hard-fought 16-21, 21-13, 21-19 win.
He will face Taiwan's Lee Chia Hao next.
RESULTS
Q-FINALS
Men's singles: Cheam June Wei (Mas) bt Ng Tze Yong (Mas) 16-21, 21-13, 21-19; Lee Chia Hao (Tai) bt Christian Adinata (Ina) 16-21, 21-17, 21-17; Son Wan Ho (Kor) bt Weng Hong Yang (Chn) 21-18, 21-19; Leong Jun Hao (Mas) bt Cho Geonyeop (Kor) 12-21, 21-15, 21-7.
Women's singles: Riko Gunji (Jpn) bt Saena Kawakami (Jpn) 8-21, 22-20, 21-9; Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi (Ina) bt Ruselli Hartawan (Ina) 21-15, 21-13; Natsuki Nidaira (Jpn) bt Asuka Takahashi (Jpn) 21-18, 14-21, 21-14; Gao Fang Jie (Chn) bt S. Kisona (Mas) 21-4, 21-10.
Men's doubles: He Ji Ting-Zhou Hao Dong (Chn) bt Alfian Eko Prasetya-Ade Yusuf Santoso (Ina) 21-16, 21-14; Ren Xiang Yu-Tan Qiang (Chn) bt Lin Yu Chieh-Su Li Wei (Tai) 21-13, 21-11; Hiroki Okamura-Masayuki Onodera (Jpn) bt Takuto Inoue-Kenya Mitsuhashi (Jpn) 21-19, 19-21, 21-19; Rahmat Hidayat-Pramudya Kusumawardana (Ina) bt Wan Arif Junaidi-Haikal Nazri (Mas) 21-13, 21-14.
Women's doubles: Rui Hirokami-Yuna Kato (Jpn) w.o. Lanny Tria Mayasari-Ribka Sugiarto (Ina); Kim Min Ji-Seong Seung Yeon (Kor) bt Nita Violina Marwah-Tryola Nadia (Ina) 16-21, 21-19, 21-13; Rena Miyaura-Ayako Sakuramoto (Jpn) bt Sayaka Hobara-Hinata Suzuki (Jpn) 22-20, 21-13, 22-20; Jesita Putri Miantoro-Febi Setianingrum (Ina) bt Ridya Aulia Fatasya-Kelly Larissa (Ina) 21-16, 21-10;
Mixed doubles: Jafar Hidayatullah-Aisyah Salsabila Putri Pranata (Ina) bt Yujiro Nishikawa-Saori Ozaki (Jpn) 12-21, 21-11, 21-19; Cheng Xing-Chen Fang Hui (Chn) bt Hafiz Faizal-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Ina) 12-21, 21-11, 21-19; Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chn) bt Akbar Bintang Cahyono-Marsheilla Gischa Islami (Ina) 21-13, 21-16; Dejan Derdinansyah-Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja (Ina) bt Amri Syahnawi-Winny Oktavina Kando (Ina) 21-14, 21-14.