Tough nemesis: Taiwan’s Wang Tzu Wei will square off with Ng Tze Yong (right) in the first round of the Asian Championships next month.
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong needs to navigate a tough draw in the Asian Championships from April 9-14 in Ningbo, China to keep alive his chances of qualifying for the Paris Olympics.
Tze Yong is facing a fight on his hands just to return to full fitness ahead of the Asian meet, which is the last qualifying event for the Olympics.
If the 23-year-old does recover fully after undergoing back surgery last month to deal with a spinal issue, he will have to be on his toes from the start in the tournament as he has been drawn against Taiwan’s world No. 24 Wang Tzu-wei in the first round.
Tzu-wei will be no pushover as he stunned Denmark’s world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the French Open earlier in the month.
If Tze Yong does beat the Taiwanese, China’s reigning Asian Games gold medallist and 2023 All-England champion Li Shifeng will most likely stand in his way in the second round.
Shifeng should have no issues clearing his opening hurdle against a qualifier.
Tze Yong, who is currently in 17th spot in the Race to Paris rankings, needs to reach the semi-finals at least to have a chance of breaking into the top 16 and making the cut for the Olympics.
Meanwhile, independent player Lee Zii Jia, who is already assured of a berth in Paris, will play India’s Priyanshu Rajawat in his opening match.
A win will see the world No. 10 face either Taiwan’s world No. 15 Chou Tien-chen or China’s Weng Hongyang (No. 17) in the second round.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi, Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun and Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani all face uphill battles in the early rounds as they have been pitted against the world’s current top three pairs.
Yew Sin-Ee Yi and Wei Chong-Kai Wun could face China’s world No. 3 Liang Weikeng-Wang Chang and India’s world No. 1 Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty respectively in the second round while Sze Fei-Izzuddin will take on South Korea’s reigning world champions and world No. 2 Kang Min-hyuk-Seo Seung-jae in the first round.
National No. 1 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik have an easier draw as they play a qualifier in the opening round while their first tough test should come in the last eight against either China’s world No. 8 Liu Yuchen-Ou Xuanyi or Indonesia’s world No. 13 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin.
