Hoh redeems himself with men’s singles title

In the culmination of two Badminton World Federation Grade 3 International Challenge tournaments on Saipan, men’s singles No. 5 seed Justin Hoh of Malaysia redeemed himself in the finals of the Dove Saipan International 2024 last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium, after losing in the finals of the previous Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024.

The 20-year-old faced off against Japan’s Ryoma Muramoto—who was unseeded but eliminated top bet and first-time Olympian Viren Nettasinghe in the quarter finals last Friday. On the same day, Muramoto made his way to the finals after another upset against No. 4 seed Riku Hatano.

Hoh put his best foot forward, however, and was hungry for redemption as he doused Muramoto’s flame and momentum in the first set, 21-16.

Muramoto’s firepower was reignited in the crucial second set and kept pace with Hoh early on. Draws and just 1-point leads lasted until they were tied at 6-6, when Hoh pulled away by 2 points—which was the biggest lead so far, 8-6.

Hoh tried to control the game from then on which led to another 3-point lead, 10-7, but Muramoto bounced back to tie it up once more, 10-10. Muramoto was hungry for a third set while Hoh craved redemption, so Hoh sped through the next few points with well-placed returns and hard smashes to lead, 15-11.

After multiple points, Hoh had the biggest lead yet, 18-12. But with victory right around the corner, he stagnated at 19 points while Muramoto chipped away as he elicited errors and soon, it was 17-19, then 18-20. Hoh then regrouped and after a 10-second volley—and with one fast motion, secured the final point way out of Muramoto’s reach to secure the title.

Hoh made it to the finals after he took down unseeded Ping Hsien Huang of Chinese Taipei last Friday in a close semis battle, 21-18, 21-19. In the Round of 16 last Thursday, Hoh bested Jia Wei Koh of Singapore, 21-17, 21-19; and in his first match of the tourney last Tuesday, Hoh outlasted Japan’s Keisuke Fujiwara, 21-19, 21-16.

In an interview after the awards ceremony, Hoh said he felt very happy with his win after he settled for second place in the first tournament. He said he felt sad about the finals last week as there was an issue with the umpire that resulted in a crucial call against his favor, but in this tourney, he’s excited and happy with his win.

In the finals this time around, he said, “I competed my very best and today, I won.” With his close call in the second set that almost resulted in a third, he said, “I was rushing because I wanted to win. I made a lot of simple mistakes for myself. But then finally in the end, I just won it.”

On the difference in his game during the second tourney compared to the first, he said, “it’s not that different but it was all about body conditioning. It’s a back-to-back tournament so it’s quite tough for me, mindset-wise and physically.”

Even with that, in this final tourney, he said, “my body was tired but I just focused step by step.”

He will next take on the 2024 Baoji China Masters in August.

Results of the women’s singles, mixed doubles, women’s doubles, and men’s doubles will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.