KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 7— A first-round victory at the Malaysia Open 2026 has provided a timely confidence boost to national men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao to continue his campaign before home fans at Axiata Arena here, today.
Leong, 26, admitted that his straight-sets win over China’s Wang Zheng Xing, 21-17, 21-17 was far from straightforward with the Malaysian having to dig deep especially in the latter stages to seal the match.
“Knowing that my conclusion to last season wasn’t very good, a win to start the year really means a lot. Hopefully tomorrow I can play with more confidence and be more consistent.
“I’m satisfied because playing against any Chinese player is never easy. To win in two games, I’m really happy with my performance today,” he said after the match.
At last year’s edition, Leong exited in the opening round after losing to another Chinese opponent, Lu Guang Zu, 17-21, 21-16, 13-21.
He also endured a difficult run on the BWF World Tour suffering five consecutive first-round defeats starting with the Korea Open 2025 in September.
Leong will next face either Taiwan’s Lee Chia Hao or Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie in the second round.
“Regardless of who I play, it’s definitely going to be tough. I need to be more focused and mentally stronger for tomorrow’s match,” he said.
Leong is currently Malaysia’s sole remaining men’s singles representative at the tournament after professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia was knocked out in the first round by India’s Ayush Shetty, losing 12-21, 17-21 in 39 minutes yesterday. — Bernama
