Letshanaa and Leong Jun Hao have made the finals of the women’s singles and men’s singles respectively of the Petronas National Championships 2023 following their strong showings in the semifinals today in Bukit Kiara.
19-year-old Letshanaa, who had only recently returned to the fold of the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), showed her mettle against Selangor lass Siti Nurshaini.
Despite losing the first set 9-21, Letshanaa fought back in the remaining two sets to win 21-10, 21-15 in the close to an hour battle.
With the win, second seed Letshanaa will now take on national team-mate and 3/4-ranked Wong Ling Ching, who had a straightforward 21-13, 21-18 victory over Johor’s Lim Shin.
In the meantime in the men’s singles, top seed Jun Hao coasted to a 21-15, 21-17 win over Lim Chi Wing – ranked 9/16 – to book his place in the final with confidence.
Standing in Jun Hao’s way of his first-ever Petronas National Championship title is national team-mate Muhammad Shaqeem Eiman Shahyar.
The 22-year-old Muhammad Shaqeem did not have it easy against the lower-ranked Chua Kim Sheng in the semifinals when the latter put up a tough fight before conceding to a 14-21, 20-22 loss in 50 minutes.
