PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) is close to the breakthrough that he has been working hard for. Barely a week after exiting his maiden Asian Games in the last eight, Tze Yong marched into the men’s singles final of the Arctic Open after a commanding 21-12, 21-16 win over Japan’s world No. 16 Kanta Tsuneyama at the Energia Arena in Vantaa, Finland, yesterday.
It was the 23-year-old’s third consecutive win over the Japanese and it has propelled him to his first ever World Tour competition final.
World No. 19 Tze Yong has been in top form throughout the tournament and has yet to drop even a single game.
He had stunned Taiwan’s world No. 11 Chou Tien-chen and China’s world No. 12 Lu Guangzu in the second round and quarter-finals respectively.
It could be an all-Malaysian final after Lee Zii Jia made it into the last four a day earlier.
Zii Jia had won the first game 21-16 against another Malaysian Leong Jun Hao in the quarter-finals but the latter fought back to take the second game 21-19.
Jun Hao, though, was forced to retire while 7-11 behind in the third game after suffering a left foot injury.
World No. 14 Zii Jia can make it an all-Malaysian final if he can beat Denmark’s world No. 10 Anders Antonsen in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, mixed doubles pair Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei’s fine run in the tournament came to an end after they went down fighting 21-17, 13-21, 14-21 to China’s world No. 6 Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin.
World No. 9 Tang Jie-Ee Wei started slowly and were 5-11 down in the first game but battled back in stunning fashion to snatch the game.
The duo, though, could not maintain their form against the much improved Chinese pair and lost out in the next two games.
Despite the defeat, Tang Jie-Ee Wei can still be encouraged by their efforts after they had scored a famous win over Thailand’s 2021 world champions Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the quarter-finals a day ago.
“We gave our best in the semi-final match but unfortunately we lost,” said Ee Wei.
“It shows that we still have a lot to learn.
“This tournament has still been a good experience for me and Tang Jie.
“We will stay focused and prepare for our next competition (Denmark Open starting on Tuesday).”
In the men’s doubles, Taiwan Open champions Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun had booked their spots in the semi-finals by toppling Indonesia’s 2022 Asian champions Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan 22-20, 21-18 in the last eight on Friday to set up a match against Denmark’s world No. 29 Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard.
Kjaer-Sogaard had beaten Independent pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 in the quarter-finals.
