Leong Jun Hao lost to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: It was far from a good day for Malaysia’s men’s singles shuttlers at the Malaysian Masters as all three representatives crashed out in the first round.
What made it more disappointing was the fact that injuries derailed their progress just as they were beginning to show promising form.
The biggest blow came when Ng Tze Yong, who had only recently returned from a back injury, suffered a right knee injury while leading against Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long yesterday.
Tze Yong tried to continue but was forced to retire with the score at 22-20, 4-3 in his favour.
Earlier, teammate Leong Jun Hao also exited the tournament after going down 21-10, 18-21, 9-21 to Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen. While he did not suffer a fresh injury, the 25-year-old had only recently recovered from a right arm injury and was unable to perform at his best.
Meanwhile, Justin Hoh, who earned a last-minute slot in the tournament, gave a commendable fight against Kodai Naraoka of Japan before bowing out 14-21, 20-22.
National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen admitted that he was far from pleased with the outcome, especially after all three players showed good effort on court. But he also acknowledged that in badminton, winning is ultimately what matters.
A dampener: Ng Tze Yong writhing in pain after injuring his right knee during the match against Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
“When we’re having a tough day like today, overall, of course, I’m not content, I’m not happy. We’re here to win badminton matches,” said Kenneth.
“We gave a fighting show. These tournaments are also a chance to gain some additional knowledge about each player and what we’re lacking.
“I definitely found some quite interesting things, though I haven’t discussed them with the players in detail yet before I can share with anybody else.
“I like the fighting style. I like that we gave ourselves a chance. But of course, we’re in the business of winning badminton matches. We still have a long way to go,” said Jonassen.
At the same time, Jonassen was unable to provide a detailed assessment of Tze Yong’s injury but expressed hope that it was not a serious one.
“The initial test done here shows that something definitely happened, but we’ll have to wait for the scan results tomorrow before we can make a proper statement on the situation.
“After reviewing the video of the incident, I’m still staying positive. Hopefully, it’s just a minor scare, some tension around the area and we can move on from it quickly.
“But for now, we’ll have to wait to see what the doctor says,” he added.
Based on the initial schedule, Tze Yong was supposed to compete in the Singapore Open starting next Tuesday.
It was an unfortunate incident, especially as Jonassen felt that Tze Yong had been performing well up to that point. He believed it was one of the player’s best displays since recovering from his previous injury.
FIRST ROUND RESULTS
Malaysians unless stated
Men’s singles: Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Justin Hoh 21-14, 22-20; K. Srikanth (Ind) bt Lu Guangzu (Chn) 23-21, 13-21, 21-11; K. Satish Kumar (Ind) bt Chou Tien-chen (Tpe) 21-13, 21-14; Christo Popov (Fra) bt Jason Gunawan (Hkg) 21-17, 21-18; H. S. Prannoy (Ind) bt Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn) 19-21, 21-17, 21-16; Toma Junior Popov (Fra) bt Wang Zhengxing (Chn) 21-17, 21-8; Ayush Shetty (Ind) bt Brian Yang (Can) 20-22, 21-10, 21-8; Nhat Nguyen (Ire) bt Leong Jun Hao 10-21, 21-18, 21-9; Angus Ng Ka Long (Hkg) bt Ng Tze Yong 20-22, 3-4, rtd, Li Shifeng (Chn) bt Kantaphon Wangcharoen (Tha) 21-9, 21-8; Jason Teh (Sin) bt Priyanshu Rajawat (Ind) 21-15, 21-16.
Men’s doubles: Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Chiu Hsiang-chieh-Wang Chi-lin (Tpe) 21-19, 21-15; Aaron Tai-Kang Khai Xing bt William Kryger Boe-Christian Faust Kjaer (Den) 12-21, 21-11, 21-17.
Women’s singles: Han Qianxi (Chn) bt K. Letshanaa 10-21, 21-19, 21-12; Wang Zhiyi (Chn) bt Asuka Takahashi (Jpn) 21-13, 21-10; Nguyen Thuy Linh (Vie) bt P. V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-11, 14-21, 21-15; Ratchanok Intanon (Tha) bt Goh Jin Wei 21-7, 21-15; Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) bt Hina Akechi (Jpn) 21-14, 21-19; Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt Tung Ciou-tong (Tpe) 21-14, 21-12; Michelle Li (Can) bt Sung Shuo-yun (Tpe) 21-10, 21-11.
Women’s doubles: Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Fan Ka Yan-Yau Mau Ying (Hkg) 21-17, 21-16; Febriana Dwipuji-Amallia Cahaya (Ina) bt Li Wenmei-Wang Yiduo (Chn) 21-15, 19-21, 21-10; Tidapron Kleebyeesun-Nattamon Laisuan (Tha) bt Sung Yi-hsuan-Yang Yi-hsun (Tpe) 17-21, 21-13, 22-20.
Mixed doubles: Wong Tien Ci-Lim Chiew Sien bt Supak Jomkoh-Ornnicha Jongsathapornparn (Tha) 22-20, 21-19; Loo Bing Kun-Toh Ee Wei bt Lu Mingche-Hung En-tzu (Tpe) 20-22, 21-18, 21-15; Mads Vestergaard-Christine Busch (Den) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie 21-18, 21-19; Ye Hong-wei-Nicole Chan (Tpe) bt Jasper Toft-Amelie Magelund (Den) 21-19, 21-15; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Supissara Paewsampran (Tha) bt Chang Ko-chi-Lin Jhih-yun (Tpe) 21-12, 21-13; Jiang Zhenbang-Wei Yaxin (Chn) bt Ashith Surya-Amrutha Pramuthesh (Ind) 21-12, 21-10; Guo Xinwa-Chen Fanghui (Chn) bt Rohan Kapoor-Shivani Gadde (Ind) 21-10, 21-14; Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei 22-20, 21-15.
