KUALA LUMPUR: World No. 31 Leong Jun Hao achieved a significant breakthrough in his career by toppling World No. 4 Kodai Naraoka of Japan to reach the Kumamoto Masters men's singles semi-finals today (Nov 15).
Jun Hao, who had never gone past the quarter-finals in Super 500 to Super 1000 events, defeated local favourite Naraoka 21-17, 9-21, 21-16 in 80 minutes.
The quarter-final victory also made up for world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia's exit from the Kumamoto Masters after a 12-21, 21-18 21-18 defeat to world No. 6 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in an earlier last eight match.
A sharper and fitter Jonatan Christie ended Zii Jia's run but the result may not affect the Malaysian's chances of qualifying for the World Tour Finals (WTF) in Hangzhou on Dec 11-15.
The goal to play in the WTF has been the sole reason Zii Jia had been pushing himself on the World Tour despite struggling with his physical condition since winning the bronze at the Paris Olympics.
Zii Jia also withdrew from the Denmark Open last month after suffering an ankle injury and had about three weeks to rest before returning to action at the Kumamoto Masters.
Another last eight finish at the China Masters next week should seal a place for Zii Jia, who is currently ranked sixth in the tour rankings, in the WTF where the top eight players will make the cut.
As for Jun Hao, the 25-year-old has been growing from strength to strength at the Kumomato Masters.
He began the tournament with a first round victory over Paris Olympics semi-finalist Lakshya Sen of India (No. 17) before upstaging the in-form World No. 11 Koki Watanabe of Japan in the second round.
The Naraoka encounter turned tricky as the Japanese shuttler, appearing troubled by a right wrist strain, took medical time-off when the score was level at 4-4 in the second game.
The break seemed to have disrupted Jun Hao's focus and allowed Naraoka to make a comeback with a 21-9 win to force the decider.
But Naraoka was looking completely distressed in the third game which allowed Jun Hao to book his spot in the last four after staving off some early resistance from the Japanese No. 1.
It was Jun Hao's third win over Naraoka in four career meetings but the latest success would give him plenty of confidence ahead of the semi-finals against Jonatan.
National coach K. Yogendran said the victory will boost Jun Hao for the match against Jonatan.
"Kodai adapted well to the drought and cotrolled the rallies to make a strong comeback. Before the third game, I told Jun Hao to be patient and he did really well.
"Jonatan is a better player and more experienced but Jun Hao is becoming more mature and improving by every match."
Meanwhile, Denmark's top seed Viktor Axelsen beat Christo Popov of France 21-18, 16-21, 21-18 to check into the semi-finals.