KUALA LUMPUR: National shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) has been ruled out of the prestigious All-England from March 11-16 in Birmingham.
According to the latest player list released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), only Lee Zii Jia and Leong Jun Hao will compete in the men’s singles event.
Justin Hoh, is also listed but his chance to play remains a long shot as he sits 13th on the reserve list.
Tze Yong is still recovering from a lingering back injury that has sidelined him since early last year.
In 2024, he competed in only three tournaments namely Malaysian Open, the Asia Team Championships and the Asian Championships.
However, his campaign in the first two tournaments was cut short as he was forced to withdraw mid-competition due to his poor condition.
Men’s singles coach Kenneth Jonassen assured that efforts were in full swing to get Tze Yong back on court.
Furthermore, with his protected ranking set to expire next month, any further absence from competition could impact his world ranking.
“His protected ranking will expire in April, and we are planning accordingly. The goal is to compete before the end of April,” said Jonassen.
“We will only enter him for tournaments when he feels ready, but of course, we are keeping the end of his protected ranking in mind,” said Jonassen.
While Tze Yong’s protected ranking was based on his position as world No. 18, his current ranking has now fallen to 272.
However, if he is able to return by April, he will still have the opportunity to compete in top-tier tournaments on the BWF World Tour calendar.
Besides the All-England, Tze Yong will also miss the German Open from Feb 25-March 2 and the Orleans Masters in France from March 4-9.
Tze Yong made his All-England debut in the 2023 edition, where he caused a major upset by defeating the top seed and world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen in the first round.
However, his journey came to an end in the quarter-finals at the hands of China’s Li Shifeng.
