IF the results are anything to go by, Leong Jun Hao still has a long way to go in staking his claim for a spot in the Thomas Cup squad.
The 21-year-old shuttler seemed far from his best as he once again slogged to get past his younger opponents in the Division Two matches of the BAM Invitational Championships.
Jun Hao, the third most senior player in the national set-up, had struggled to overcome lesser known youngsters Ter Chun Long and Low Eu Cong during the first day of action on Wednesday.
It was no better yesterday as the world No. 157 was taken the full distance before beating 18-year-old Wyman Goh 20-22, 21-12, 21-17 in 75 minutes during the morning session.
The former Asian Junior champion did, however, upped his game in the evening session to see off 19-year-old Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar 21-14, 21-18.
But while Jun Hao maintains a perfect record from four matches to earn qualification to Division One, he is certainly not pleased with his own showing.
"My opponents were younger than me and they had less to lose so they fought a lot harder on court," admitted Jun Hao.
"I think I was lacking focus, especially in the first match and the turning point for me against Wyman was really to focus and increase my speed in order to make it harder for him to earn points.
"It's definitely not the ideal situation to play so many tough matches because we don't have much time to rest and recover.
"But overall I think I did better than the first day and I hope to keep my focus and finish strong.
"To win all my matches in this division would be nice.
"Furthermore, the competition in Division One will be a lot keener and this is definitely a good opportunity to work on my shortcomings," added Jun Hao.
The KL lad will face World No. 160 Lim Chong King in his last Division Two match today.
The 20-year-old Chong King also kept up a perfect record by beating Chun Long 19-21, 21-16, 21-13 and Wyman 21-16, 22-20.
Both Jun Hao and Chong King will progress to next week's Division One competition where they will face the likes of world No 10 Lee Zii Jia.