Singapore: With Malaysia’s World No. 9 Lee Zii Jia withdrawing from the tournament, the World No. 36 Leong Jun Hao steps up to challenge, ending defending champion and World No. 7 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting’s title defense dream with a 21-14, 10-21, 21-8 victory in the 2024 Singapore Open second round on Thursday.
Highlights of Leong Jun Hao vs. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the 2024 Singapore Open second round:
Leong Jun Hao had previously been eliminated in the round of 16 at the Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters, losing to the reigning world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn and China’s Asian Games champion Li Shifeng, respectively.
However, in Singapore, Leong Jun Hao continued to deliver stellar performances. He defeated Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 2-0 in the first round and then went on to dominate Ginting in the second round.
Leong will be taking on World No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the quarterfinals on Friday.
Viktor Axelsen, the No. 1 seed from Denmark, defeated Taiwan’s Lin Chun-Yi with scores of 21-16, 14-21, and 21-16, advancing to the quarterfinals.
Axelsen actually had the opportunity to face Lee Zii Jia in the quarterfinals, a rematch of last week’s Malaysia Masters final, but due to Lee’s last-minute withdrawal, the match could not take place. However, Malaysia still has Leong Jun Hao. Friday’s match marks Leong Jun Hao’s first encounter with Axelsen in a BWF World Tour tournament.
In other matches, Li Shifeng narrowly defeated Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk Yiu 22-20, 21-19, and will face Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew, who beat Denmark’s Anders Antonsen 21-15, 11-21, 22-20 in the second round.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s men’s doubles pairs Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin and Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik also advanced to the quarterfinals. Goh/Izzuddin will face He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu of China while Chia/Soh will take on last week’s Malaysia Masters champions Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in the final eight.
