PETALING JAYA: The departure of former national No. 1 men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong from the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) had seemed inevitable.
The signs had been there for some time and they became even more evident when Tze Yong was left out of Malaysia’s preliminary squad for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games in September.
Yesterday, the 26-year-old confirmed his impending exit after reaching a mutual agreement with BAM.
He will officially leave the national setup on June 30.
“I would like to thank BAM for the opportunities, guidance and support I have received over the years,” said Tze Yong.
“Representing Malaysia has always been an honour and I’m grateful to everyone who has been part of my journey.”
His decision did not come as a surprise, as a series of injuries had derailed his career and stalled the progress of one of Malaysia’s brightest men’s singles prospects.
Tze Yong knows he could not meet the national body’s high expectations especially when the pressure has been mounting in the men’s singles department that are currently scraping for a reliable successor to Lee Chong Wei.
And he feels being a professional will give him the time and space to chart his fortune in badminton again.
“For now, my priority is to fully recover and regain my fitness,” said Tze Yong.
“I will take some time away from competition to focus on my rehabilitation before returning to the court, and I look forward to the next chapter of my career,” said Tze Yong.
BAM president Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz thanked Tze Yong for his contributions to the national team and expressed regret that injuries had disrupted the shuttler’s progress.
“Tze Yong has been an important member of the national team and has represented Malaysia with pride on the international stage. While injuries unfortunately disrupted his progress in recent years, his resilience throughout the rehabilitation process has been commendable.
“After in-depth discussions, both parties agreed that this is the best path forward at this stage of his career. We wish him good health and continued success in his future endeavours,” said Zafrul.
Tze Yong suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee in May last year and was later sent to the Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Doha for treatment.
However, despite spending almost a year undergoing treatment and rehabilitation, he has yet to regain full fitness and has been unable to return to competition.
The setback came only months after he had recovered from the back injury he suffered in 2023, which required two surgeries and ruled him out for more than a year.
At the peak of his career, Tze Yong reached a career-high world No. 14 and won the men’s singles silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
He will now focus fully on completing his rehabilitation before returning to competition as an independent player.
