PETALING JAYA: It was a day of mixed fortunes for Ng Tze Yong and Lee Zii Jia when one gained a morale-boosting win while the other suffered a double disappointment in the men’s singles second round of the Australian Open.
World No. 33 Tze Yong showed great determination and composure to bounce back from recent setbacks and book his spot in the last eight with a rousing 21-16, 19-21, 21-5 win over South Korea’s Heo Kwang-hee at Quay Centre in Sydney yesterday.
It was a confidence-boosting win for Tze Yong after suffering quarter-final and first round exits in the Indonesian Masters last month and Hylo Open a fortnight ago respectively.
And now the 22-year-old is almost assured of a spot in the semi-finals as he is set to play unheralded homester Nathan Tang in the last eight today.
Tze Yong could cross swords with Lu Guangzu of China in the last four as both are in the same half of the draw.
Independent player and world No. 2 Zii Jia on the other hand suffered a fresh blow when he went down fighting 22-20, 15-21, 16-21 to Guangzu in 70 minutes.
The loss ended Zii Jia’s hopes of making the cut for the season-ending World Tour Finals in Bangkok from Dec 7-11.
Instead, Guangzu will qualify for the tournament after taking the eighth and final spot.
It was also the end of the road for independent player Soong Joo Ven, who lost out 21-15, 18-21, 12-21 to Indonesia’s Ikhsan Rumbay.
Joo Ven’s coach Nova Armada expressed his disappointment over a controversial line call in the second game with the score standing at 19-18 in favour of Ikhsan.
“Joo Ven could have won the match in straight games but a bad line call when he was 18-19 down in the second game handed an advantage to his opponent. The shuttle had clearly landed on the line but the umpire ruled that it had gone out. We even have the recording to prove this,” said Nova.
“Unfortunately, these things happen and we can’t do anything about it. Joo Ven is also just returning from a knee injury. So, he just needs to accept it and do better in his next tournaments.”
There was no such drama in the men’s doubles when Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi easily swept aside home pair Ricky Cheng-Jack Wang 21-6, 21-18.
World No. 8 Yew Sin-Ee Yi will next face South Korea’s world No. 22 Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae for a place in the semi-finals. Malaysians onlySecond round
Men’s singles: Ng Tze Yong bt Heo Kwang-hee (Kor) 21-16, 19-21, 21-5; Lu Guangzu (Chn) bt Lee Zii Jia 20-22, 21-15, 21-16; Ikhsan Rumbay (Ina) bt Soong Joo Ven 15-21, 21-18, 21-12.
Men’s doubles: Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi bt Ricky Cheng-Jack Wang (Aus) 21-6, 21-18.
Women’s singles: Goh Jin Wei bt Anwesha Gowda (Ind) 21-7, 21-13.
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