KUALA LUMPUR: Up-and-coming men's singles Justin Hoh clinched his fourth title this season when he came out tops at the India Junior International Series in Hyderabad today.
The 18-year-old medal prospect for the World Junior Championships in October lived up to his billing as top seed by downing India's Pranay Shettigar 21-18, 21-14 in 44 minutes.
With just over a month to go before the world junior meet in Santander, Spain, Justin wants to cap his preparation with one more title at the Malaysia Junior International Series on Sep 6-11 in Putrajaya.
Earlier this year, Justin announced his arrival on the senior stage when he bagged the National Under-21 Championships in May, before going on to win two more senior titles --- the Bonn International in Germany and and the Croatia Open in June.
There was more joy for the Malaysian camp when Ong Xin Yee-Carmen Ting won the girls' doubles title after scoring a comfortable 21-16, 21-15 win over India's Radhika Sharma-Tanvi Sharma.
It was the pair's first title after finishing second at the National Under-18 Championships last week.
While he was pleased with the overall performance, BA of Malaysia (BAM) development director, Misbun Sidek, does not want to get carried away, because his charges have yet to take on players from countries like China, Indonesian, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea over the last two years due to Covid-19.
"Overall, it has been a good outing, but based on our R&D (Research and Development), we have only played players from India.
"Though their level is high, we still have not played players from other countries, which our players will likely face at the Malaysia Junior International Series next month.
"After that, the players will return to their states for Sukma (Malaysia Games), before the selection for the World Junior Championships," Misbun told Timesport when contacted.