PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) is set to face his first real test in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Masters today when he takes on Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long.
Yesterday, world No. 29 Tze Yong breezed past South Korea’s world No. 37 Heo Kwang-hee 21-16, 21-8 in the second round at the Nimibutr National Stadium in Bangkok.
World No. 18 Angus though, will be a different prospect as he had already dashed the hopes of another Malaysian, world No. 44 Cheam June Wei with a 21-9, 12-21, 21-9 victory.
It was the Hong Kong player’s second straight win over independent player June Wei after beating him in the recent Indonesian Masters.
The in-form Angus had also stunned world No. 4 Lee Zii Jia en route to a semi-final finish in Jakarta.
Tze Yong though, can take heart as he has a slight advantage after toppling Angus in their only encounter so far at the 2022 Singapore Open.
Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, it was a bad day in the office for world No. 7 Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie, who suffered a shock 15-21, 10-21 loss to Japan’s world No. 25 Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito.
“We didn’t manage to control the match and made mistakes today as the shuttle was slow and our opponents kept playing long rallies,” lamented Soon Huat.
Fellow independent pair Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See also bowed out of the tournament after going down 19-21, 15-21 to Indonesia’s Amri Syahnawi-Winny Oktavina.
“We should have won the match but made too many easy mistakes and this cost us,” said Peng Soon, who was playing in his first tournament with Yee See after turning professional.
With the two pairs’ defeats, Malaysia’s challenge in the mixed doubles came to an end.
Second round
Men’s singles: Ng Tze Yong bt Heo Kwang-hee (Kor) 21-16, 21-8; Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) bt Cheam June Wei 21-9, 12-21, 21-9.
Mixed doubles: Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 21-15, 21-10; Amri Syahnawi-Winny Oktavina (Ina) bt Chan Peng Soon-Cheah Yee See 21-19, 21-15.
