New Delhi: Malaysia’s Leong Jun Hao delivered an impressive comeback to secure his spot in the men’s singles Round of 16 at the India Open, a BWF Super 750 tournament. Leong fought back from a one-game deficit to upset China’s fifth seed, Li Shifeng, with a thrilling 18-21, 21-17, 21-17 victory.
Highlights of Leong Jun Hao vs. Li Shifeng in the 2025 India Open first round:
The match began with Li dominating the opening game, racing to a 6-0 lead and maintaining control throughout. Despite a late surge from Leong, who narrowed the gap to 17-19, Li closed out the game 21-18.
Leong turned the tables in the second game, quickly establishing a 7-1 lead and extending it to 18-12. Although Li managed to reduce the deficit to just two points at 18-16, Leong held his nerve to claim the game 21-17, forcing a decider.
The final game saw Li take an early 4-0 lead, but Leong responded with a stunning 5-0 run to overturn the scoreline at 10-7. Leading 11-8 at the interval, Leong continued to dominate, pulling ahead 15-11 and maintaining his advantage to seal the victory at 21-17.
This win marks Leong’s first triumph over Li in five meetings, breaking a streak of four consecutive losses.
Leong will next face China’s Weng Hongyang in the Round of 16. Weng advanced after his Indian opponent Kidambi Srikanth retired in their opening-round match.
In the men’s doubles category, Malaysia’s independent pair Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin cruised into the Round of 16 with a straight-sets victory. The third seeds defeated fellow Malaysians MAS
Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Azriyn/Tan Wee Kiong in an all-Malaysian clash, winning 21-16, 21-16.
In the next round, Goh and Izzuddin will face fellow compatriots, Junaidi Arif/Yap Roy King, who had an easy first-round match against Germany’s Daniel Hess/Marvin Seidel. Yap and Arif breezed through with a commanding 21-11, 21-8 win.
