Tze Yong has been ruled out of the Thomas Cup Finals team after failing to recover in time from back surgery.
PETALING JAYA: Men's singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong has been dropped from the Thomas Cup team after failing to fully recover from back surgery.
The 23-year-old, who went under the knife in February to deal with a spinal disc injury, was initially selected as one of the singles players in the prestigious team meet from April 27-May 5 along with Lee Zii Jia, Leong Jun Hao, Cheam June Wei and Justin Hoh.
He will be replaced by doubles player Choong Hon Jian.
"Tze Yong's condition is still not good enough for him to play, so we had no choice but to drop him," said national coaching director Rexy Mainaky when met at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara on Friday (April 19).
"We choose Hon Jian as we have more options in the doubles than the singles."
Hon Jian will join Mohd Haikal Nazri, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in the doubles in the team meet.
Tze Yong's absence is a blow to the team's chances in the Thomas Cup as he is currently the country's second highest ranked singles player at No. 18 in the world, behind No. 10 Zii Jia.
Jun Hao (No. 37), June Wei (No. 63) and youngster Justin (No. 233) will need to step up to fill the void left by Tze Yong.
