PETALING JAYA: Ng Tze Yong continued his fine run in the European circuit when he stormed into the second round of the Hylo Open in Saarbrucken, Germany, yesterday.
Tze Yong secured an easy 21-8, 21-13 win over Max Weisskirchen of Germany in just 31 minutes.
The Malaysian is playing in his sixth tournament in as many weeks since the Asian Games in Hangzhou in September.
Meanwhile, men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi will have to battle harder in the Olympic qualifying race after falling out of the top 10 for the first time this year.
The independent pair dropped two places from world No. 9 to world No. 11, attributed to three preliminary round defeats in three (Hong Kong Open, Hangzhou Asian Games and the Denmark Open) of their last five tournaments.
Such has been the keen competition in the men’s doubles scene that Yew Sin-Ee Yi cannot take their feet off the pedal for too long or will further complicate their position to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A country is allowed a maximum of two pairs at the Olympics if both are ranked in the top eight at the end of the qualifying period (end of April next year) where world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik are in a strong position to claim their spot.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi can make their move by doing well in the ongoing Hylo Open where they will meet young China pair Chen Boyang-Liu Yi in the second round today.
In the women’s singles, Malaysia’s interest ended after independent shuttler S. Kisona lost 21-13, 11-21, 8-21 to Yvonne Li of Germany in the first round on Tuesday.
RESULTS
Malaysians unless stated
First round
Men’s singles: Ng Tze Yong bt Max Weisskirchen (Ger) 21-8, 21-13.
Women’s singles: Yvonne Li (Ger) bt S. Kisona 13-21, 21-11, 21-8.
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