India Open: Patience Does the Trick for Leong

After four straight losses to Li Shi Feng when he was unable to take a game, Leong Jun Hao finally broke through in the first round of the YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2025. The key, said the No.28 Malaysian, was patience as he weathered an early setback to grind out a 18-21 21-17 21-17 upset of the No.6.

“I played him four times and never won. Today I think I did great on what I had planned before the match, so I’m happy I managed to execute it,” said Leong. “In the first game I was not so patient; I tried to be patient in the second and third and play more strokes, and that worked.

“For sure, it means a lot to me, because I’d never even take a game off him and today I won the match. He’s a tough opponent, physically and in the strokes he plays – he’s an attacking, all-round player. Today I just played with what I have and did my best.

“Since Yogendran (Krishnan) took over as coach five months ago, we have been working together on and off court, specifically on what I need. Every top player has their own strength and so we are working on specific things.”

Kang Min Hyuk and Jin Yong

Among other significant results of the day was new pair Kang Min Hyuk/Jin Yong’s defeat of the in-form Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, 20-22 21-19 21-16. Kang said Korea’s pairs had been rearranged on a test basis for the early season, and for now at least, the experiment seemed to be working well, with his regular partner Seo Seung Jae having won the PETRONAS Malaysia Open 2025 last week with Kim Won Ho.

“We’re very happy to beat these strong opponents. But as we are a new pair, we are still working on a lot of things. Our partnerships have been tweaked on a testing basis, but I don’t know how long we will continue. Coming back to the India Open that I won last year, there are happy memories. We have started well here, so it’s a happy moment once again.”

WHAT OTHERS SAID

I’m really excited to be on the Tour because it’s a new season, new tournaments. Last year was a hard year, and we start with a fresh mind and with less pressure of the Olympics, we play more freely. For the moment there’s nothing to complain about. I’m trying to improve a bit of everything.” – Toma Junior Popov

“My physical condition is better than before, but because I’m competing against top players, I feel I’m still physically not up to the mark. I’m aiming to get back to my prime, but I just can’t do it right now, and it will take a lot of time.” – Nozomi Okuhara

“It’s cold but we tried to get comfortable. We are still finding our momentum, as we just finished the Malaysia Open. So we are trying to adjust and maintain our physical condition to give a good performance here.” – Chen Tang Jie

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