Madrid: World No. 37, Leong Jun Hao, defeated last week’s Swiss Open champion, World No. 19 Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei, in the men’s singles round of 16 at the Spain Masters on Thursday, with a straight-set victory of 21-17, 21-18. Leong, alongside Junaidi Arif/Yap Roy King, advanced to the quarterfinals.
Highlights of Leong Jun Hao vs. Lin Chun-Yi in the 2024 Spain Masters second round:
In the first game, after a tie at 2-2, Leong surged ahead with a 4-0 lead and maintained it throughout. Although Lin attempted to close the gap, chasing from 8-14 to 13-14, Leong remained steady, scoring several points at the net against Lin, denying any chance for his opponent to catch up, and secured the first game.
In the second game, the competition intensified as the score remained close, with the maximum point difference within 2 points in the first half of the game. Leong had a slight control over the match and took a 12-9 lead after being tied at 9-9, then, at 13-11, a line judge mistakenly judged Lin’s out-of-bounds shot as in-bounds, allowing Lin to score 2 consecutive points to tie at 13-13. Unfazed, Leong then scored 4 consecutive points to establish a 17-13 lead. Although he let Lin Junyi save 2 match points at 20-16, he sealed the victory with a final backcourt shot.
Leong will take on World No. 15 Chou Tien Chen, who lost to Lin Chun-Yi in last week’s Swiss Open final, on Friday.
In men’s doubles, World No. 65 Junaidi Arif/Yap Roy King secured a spot in the quarterfinals after a thrilling 63-minute battle in the round of 16, narrowly defeating Lu Chen and Po Li-wei of Chinese Taipei with scores of 18-21, 21-15, 24-22.
In the deciding game, they saved three match points at 18-20 and 20-21, and after missing one match point at 22-21, they won two consecutive points to clinch the victory.
