KUALA LUMPUR: National shuttler Leong Jun Hao's ambitious bid to secure back-to-back titles came to a halt as he was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the Korea Masters Super 300 today.
World No. 38 Jun Hao lost 21-14, 22-20 to Lei Lan Xi, China's sixth-highest-ranked men's singles player at No. 57, in their first-ever meeting at Gwangju's Women's University Stadium.
Jun Hao, who won last week's KL Masters Super 100, cited fatigue as a factor and mentioned that he did the best he could against a fresher Lan Xi.
Jun Hao was playing in his eighth match in a short span of 10 days.
"Perhaps some variety of shots could have changed the outcome, but I did my best today," said world No. 35 Jun Hao.
"I felt a little tired, it's certainly not easy to maintain the same kind of intensity for every match."
The exit paves the way for Jun Hao to recover well ahead of the Kumamoto Masters Super 500 in Japan next week.
However, a gruelling test awaits him as he has to start his campaign from the qualifiers, where he needs to overcome two hurdles to make the tournament proper. It was also the end of the road for Soong Joo Ven, who found former world No. 1 Kento Momota too hot to handle. Joo Ven went down 21-16, 21-11 to Momota in a rematch of the 2012 Asian Junior Championships final.
In men's doubles, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin showed that they still have plenty to do against the world's best pairs. Despite boasting three titles since June, Sze Fei-Izzuddin were completely outplayed by world champions Kang Min Hyuk-Seo Seung Jae, losing 21-18, 21-10 in just 35 minutes.
They have a chance to redeem themselves at the Kumamoto Masters next week.