KUALA LUMPUR: National men’s singles shuttler Justin Hoh clinched the 2024 Slovenia Open title last night, just two months after returning to competitive action following a long injury layoff.
The 20-year-old fought back from a game down to beat Indonesian Prahdiska Bagas Shujiwo 19-21, 21-11, 21-15 in the final at the Dras Center in Maribor.
World number 179 Justin is only the second Malaysian to have won the Slovenia Open men’s singles title following Ramdan Misbun’s victory in 2013.
The Kuala Lumpur-born Justin was sidelined for eight months due to an Achilles tendon rupture in April last year.
Shortly after returning from the surgery, he suffered a right knee injury in November, causing him to miss the Badminton Asia Team Championships in Setia Alam in February, which led to his world ranking dipping from top 50 to below 200.
He finally recovered and returned to competitive action in the Toyota International Challenge in Thailand on March 26-31 before helping the national team finish third in the Thomas Cup Finals in Chengdu, China.
