KUALA LUMPUR: National men's singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao is hoping to have a good run at the Thailand Masters this week ahead of the Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championships (BAMTC) in Dubai next month.
The 24-year-old, who landed in Bangkok yesterday, will need to first clear two qualifying round matches tomorrow if he is to make the main draw.
Jun Hao will play compatriot Yeoh Seng Zoe who is also an independent player first and is slated to take on Denmark's Mads Christophersen after that.
Jun Hao, a former Asian junior champion, received a timely surprise last week when he was named in the 16-member BAMTC squad ahead of Ng Tze Yong.
When contacted today, the world No 65 said: "I want to have a good outing here (Bangkok) but I'll need to get past the qualifying round first.
"Right now, it's important for me to take it one match at a time, I can't be talking about targets yet.
"All I can say is I will give my best in everything."
Jun Hao and Seng Zoe are not the only Malaysians who will have to fight it out in the qualifying rounds.
The other player is Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin who will play South Korea's Jeon Hyeok Jin in his first match.
Tze Yong was left out of the BAMTC squad to focus on improving his performance before the European leg of the World Tour in March. He will open his Thailand Masters campaign against Brazil's Ygor Coelho in the first round.
Also in the main draw are professionals Cheam June Wei and Soong Joo Ven.