KUALA LUMPUR: Leong Jun Hao's overly defensive approach proved costly as the men's singles shuttler crashed out in the first round of the Denmark Open after losing to Japan's Koki Watanabe in Odense on Tuesday.
World No. 30 Jun Hao was comprehensively beaten 21-6, 21-19 by world No. 16 Watanabe in a 40-minute encounter at the SJF Bank.
Jun Hao admitted that his approach in the opening game put him on the back foot, and he was unable to turn things around despite increasing the pace in the second game.
"After the Asian Games, I recovered and prepared for the Denmark Open for about a week. Everything seemed fine, but I am not satisfied with my performance today," said Jun Hao.
"I was slow and too defensive in the first game. In the second game, I tried to increase the pace and move him around on every point.
"I need to be more positive and focused in my gameplay. I executed some good shots today and must continue doing that and keep improving next week."
Expectations were high after Jun Hao upset then world No. 4 Jonatan Christie of Indonesia during the team event at the Asiad.
However, the Malaysian started sluggishly against Watanabe and slumped to a 21-6 defeat in the opening game.
Jun Hao took the lead at various stages of the second game but allowed the in-form Watanabe to seal a straight-game victory.
It was Jun Hao's eighth first-round exit this year, and the Malaysian will be hoping to avoid another early departure at the Super 750 French Open in Paris next week.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles world No. 51 Hoo Pang Ron-Lai Pei Jing had to work hard to overcome Spain's world No. 40 pair Ruben Garcia-Lucía Rodríguez, winning 21-18, 21-16 in 37 minutes.
The independent pair will need to show marked improvement to stand a chance of progressing against Thailand's world No. 5 Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran in the last 16 on Thursday.
It was the end of the road for another independent pair, Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien, as the world No. 41 combination lost 19-21, 21-16, 21-19 in 55 minutes to seventh-ranked All England champions Ye Hong Wei-Nicole Gonzales Chan of Taiwan.
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