Malaysia’s top singles shuttler Leong Jun Hao failed to advance to the quarter-finals of the China Masters after going down to China‘s world No 4 Li Shifeng in three games at the Shenzhen Arena.
In a repeat of their quarter-final tie at the Hong Kong Open on Friday, Shifeng once again beat the world No 22 Malaysian player in three games.
This time around, Shifeng beat Jun Hao with a score of 21-11, 19-21, 21-8, in a match that lasted 67 minutes.
In their last marathon encounter in Hong Kong which lasted 78 minutes, Jun Hao even held match point once in the rubber game before falling to the eventual champion.
After an easy loss in the first game today, Jun Hao came storming back to take the second but succumbed to Shifeng’s power and accuracy in the decider.
This was Jun Hao’s seventh loss in their eight encounters so far. He is still chasing his first semi-final appearance of the year, with two quarter-final finishes so far. He also had five first-round exits.
In the quarter-final tomorrow, Shifeng will take on Taiwan’s Lin Chun Yi who defeated Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie.
