Kenneth Jonassen did not hold back his frustration after Malaysia’s top men’s singles shuttler, Leong Jun Hao, suffered another disappointing defeat in Europe.
Jun Hao fell 14-21, 21-18, 16-21 to India’s world No. 62 Sankar Subramanian in the first round of the Hylo Open in Saarbrücken, Germany — marking his fourth straight first-round exit since the Korea Open in September. 🇩🇪
The loss capped off a poor European campaign that also included early exits at the Denmark Open and French Open. Jonassen, clearly unhappy, pointed out Jun Hao’s inconsistency and lack of physical conditioning as major weaknesses holding him back from competing with the world’s elite.
“It was a disappointing performance. He fought till the end, but his inconsistency and unforced errors were too costly,” said Jonassen. “In terms of overall fitness, he’s still not at the required level, and opponents know how to exploit that.”
Despite showing flashes of brilliance this year — including wins over Jonatan Christie, Kodai Naraoka, and Li Shifeng — Jun Hao’s inconsistency and slow starts remain his biggest setbacks.
With his European run now over, the world No. 22 has less than two weeks to bounce back before the Kumamoto Masters in Japan (Nov 11–16).
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