Malaysia's NG Tze Yong Retired after injured to his back in match against Koki Watanabe of Japan during the first round of Petronas Malaysian open championship at Axiata arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday. _10/01/2024/ S.S.KANESAN/THE STAR
PETALING JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong is unlikely to return to competitions in January.
Tze Yong, who has been struggling with a back injury and last played in the Asia Team Championships in February this year, was initially registered for the Malaysian Open from Jan 7-12 in Bukit Jalil.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM), though, have withdrawn his name as he is still not deemed ready to play.
Men’s singles coach K. Yogendran said that Tze Yong is now highly unlikely to feature in January.
“After holding discussions with new singles head coach Kenneth (Jonassen), we have decided to give Tze Yong more time to return to full fitness,” said Yogendran.
“Our job is to get him ready for tournaments but we want him to play with confidence and not to doubt himself.
“His progress is good but we don’t want him to just go and play. We want him to be at his best and to do well.
“Kenneth will start work on Jan 5 and he will monitor Tze Yong’s condition. He will most likely not be able to compete in January,” added Yogendran.
Tze Yong suffered a lower back injury in this year’s Malaysian Open and had to undergo two surgeries.
He was forced to miss the Paris Olympics in August despite being well placed to qualify.
Currently, Tze Yong has dropped to No. 192 in the world but has a protected ranking of No. 18.
The 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games silver medallist’s protected ranking, though, ends in April and he needs to make his competitive return before that or he will be unable to play in higher tier events.
On Tze Yong’s progress in training, Yogendran said: “He is around 55 to 60 percent now. Earlier, I said he is at 30 percent, so he is progressing well.’’
In Tze Yong’s absence, world No. 8 Lee Zii Jia and world No. 29 Leong Jun Hao will be the only representatives in the men’s singles for Malaysia in the home Open.
