National men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao shocked World No 3 Jonathan Christie in a second round match at the Indonesia Open in Jakarta today. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao pulled off a major upset at the Indonesia Open when he defeated reigning All England champion Jonathan Christie 21-13, 16-21, 21-12 in the Indonesian’s home turf.
Jun Hao will face either Chou Tien-chen or Lin Chun-yi, both of Chinese Taipei, in the last-16.
World No 32 Jun Hao showed determination and resilience to win the first set with relative ease in 16 minutes, with World No 3 Jonathan making numerous unforced errors despite the partisan crowd rooting for him in Jakarta.
However, Jun Hao, who was leading in the second set until 15-11, allowed Jonathan to crawl back and levelled the score at 15-15.
The Malaysian even lost two challenge calls within two minutes.
Buoyed by the vociferous home crowd, Jonathan raced ahead to win the second set game to force a rubber game.
Jun Hao came back strongly in the third set and showed accuracy to take a 11-5 lead in 12 minutes.
Jonathan attempted a comeback and reduced the deficit to 8-12, but Jun Hao shifted gears before going on to win the match.
This was the first meeting between the two players.
