KUALA LUMPUR: Known for his expertise in team events, national men's singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao is prepared to once again stand in for his teammates at the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) in Selangor on Feb 13-18.
And the former Asian junior champion aims to capitalise on his newfound confidence.
Since the Malaysian men's team secured their maiden BATC crown at the 2022 edition, Jun Hao has steadily climbed the ranks.
He reached a career-high world No. 35 ranking last year and currently stands as Malaysia's third-highest-ranked player (No. 37), behind former All England champion Lee Zii Jia (No. 10) and Ng Tze Yong (No. 15).
Surprisingly, Jun Hao was not part of the original lineup and was only called back at the 11th hour of registration to replace the injured Justin Hoh.
Eogene Ewe is the other singles player in the squad, apart from Zii Jia, Tze Yong and Jun Hao.
When asked if he felt hard done for being left out of the original squad, 2023 KL Masters champion Jun Hao said: "Not really, I had known for a while that I was not going to be part of the team. I wasn't disappointed.
"But now that I'm part of the team again, I hope to contribute. Over the past year, I have grown in confidence and am in a good place."
Since transitioning from the national junior squad, Jun Hao has faced many setbacks, mainly due to injuries.
Last week, he performed well to clear the qualifying rounds of the Indonesia Masters in Jakarta, even stunning world No. 11 Kenta Nishimoto of Japan in the first round, before losing to local favourite and world No. 4 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
Jun Hao's next tournament before the BATC is the Thailand Masters in Bangkok, which starts tomorrow. He is slated to face a qualifier in the opening round.