PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) faces a tough challenge to break into the top 30 in the world this year after his first round exit in the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany on Tuesday.
World No. 34 Tze Yong went down 12-21, 14-21 to China’s Thailand Open runners-up Li Shifeng.
This was the second consecutive setback for the 22-year-old, who had narrowly lost out to independent player Cheam June Wei in the quarter-finals of the Indonesian Masters in Malang last month.
Tze Yong now only has the Australian Open from Nov 15-20 in Sydney to make amends this year but has a daunting task as he has been drawn to play against Thailand’s World Championship silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the opening round.
Despite the huge challenge facing him, the Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medallist had shown lots of improvement this year and will be out to end his year on a high.
Meanwhile, there were some cheers for veteran Liew Daren when he cleared his opening round hurdle after beating Thailand’s Sitthikom Thammasin 21-11, 21-16.
The win came as a relief for Daren, who had been unable to get past the first round in his last seven tournaments.
The independent player will next take on Shifeng for a place in the quarter-finals.
Daren has never played against the Chinese before.
In the mixed doubles, world No. 11 Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing were dealt a blow when they were stunned 6-21, 13-21 by Taiwan’s world No. 44 Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Men’s singles: Liew Daren bt Sitthikom Thammasin 21-11, 21-16; Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Ng Tze Yong 21-12, 21-14.
Mixed doubles: Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing bt Ye Hong-wei-Lee Chia-hsin (Tpe) 21-6, 21-13.
