PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Leong Jun Hao is bracing himself for an intense physical battle when he takes on defending champion Alex Lanier of France in the Japan Open first round.

World No. 24 Jun Hao faces a tough task after he was drawn to face world No. 8 Lanier in the opening men’s singles match of the tourney which starts next Tuesday in Tokyo.

The 20-year-old Frenchman announced himself on the world stage in style when he captured the title last year.

Lanier also won the Orleans Masters in March and the European Championships in April and reached the semi-finals in his first All-England outing.

Jun Hao believes that he will need to be physically at his best against the super fit youngster if he hopes to cause an upset.

“Lanier is a physically strong and powerful player. Anyhow I have to prepare well to try to make it difficult for him,” said Jun Hao after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara yesterday.

“I have been focusing on what I need to do to get myself in the best shape possible for this tournament and I hope I can play the way I want.”

This will be the first meeting between Jun Hao and Lanier in international tournaments.

The winner of the match will play either Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao or Indonesia’s Alwi Farhan in the second round.

National No. 1 Jun Hao is Malaysia’s sole representative in the men’s singles after Paris Olympics bronze medallist Lee Zii Jia withdrew from the competition after not managing to fully recover from an ankle injury.

Although, the 25-year-old admitted that there is more pressure on his shoulders, he is determined face the expectations bravely.

“Pressure is always there whether Zii Jia plays or not. Perhaps there’s more pressure on me now but I have to try to handle this well,” said Jun Hao.

“I have had more than a month to train as there were no tournaments and I have been focusing on improving physically and tactically.

“I’m free of injuries, so I’m relieved. Every tournament is an opportunity to make myself better.”

While Lanier will start as the favourite against Jun Hao, the latter has proved himself no pushover.

Jun Hao has toppled several world’s top 10 players before like Indonesia’s world No. 4 Jonatan Christie, China’s world No. 5 Li Shifeng, Taiwan’s world No. 6 Chou Tien-chen and Japan’s world No. 7 Kodai Naraoka.

Can he add Lanier to his list?

A victory will definitely boost Jun Hao’s confidence after struggling for form this year.

His best performance so far this year came in the Singapore Open last month where he made it into the last eight.