PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) battled into the second round of the Singapore Open to continue his charge into the world’s top 20 while independent shuttler Cheam June Wei went down fighting to All England champion Li Shifeng of China yesterday.
Tze Yong, who reached the quarter-finals in the Thailand Open last week, overcame Ngat Nguyen of Ireland 21-17, 18-21, 21-15 in his opening match.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) shuttler saw his world ranking improve by three spots to No. 21 this week and he can look forward to breaking into the top 20 by reaching the quarter-finals and beyond in the Lion City.
However, it will be a difficult task as the 23-year-old Tze Yong will have to face Thailand Open champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn (inset) today.
Kunlavut, the world No. 3, is in top form and has also won the India Open in January.
The duo have only met once before and the Thai shuttler has beaten Tze Yong in an Under-19 event in Jakarta six years ago.
Meanwhile, June Wei stretched Shifeng, the world No. 12, to three games 21-16, 19-21, 21-14 in a 75-minute clash.
In the women’s singles, independent player Goh Jin Wei also bowed out after losing 11-21-11-21, to Wang Zhiyi of China in his opening match.
