PETALING JAYA: Is the career of men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) over?
The 24-year-old Tze Yong will get a clear picture on his fate tomorrow when a medical team assess his condition after being completely out of action for six months.
He has yet to return to training and has not been registered for any World Tour competitions in August and September. He was ranked 14th in January but has now dropped to 22nd in the world.
For now, Tze Yong is set to miss the Japan Open (Aug 20-25), Korean Open (Aug 27-Sept 1), Hong Kong Open (Sept 10-15) and China Open (Sept 17-22).
Tze Yong first underwent minor surgery in February to treat his lower back issue.
He had to undergo a second back operation two months later in April after a cyst appeared following the first procedure and has been undergoing rehabilitation since then.
Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) head of sports medicine Ooi Yu Hang said that Tze Yong’s condition would be assessed again.
“Tze Yong is currently fully undergoing rehab. He has not returned to training. He will have a follow-up appointment with the doctor on Monday (tomorrow),” said Yu Hang.
“We need to wait until the appointment to know any updates on his latest condition.”
Tze Yong only managed to compete in the Malaysian Open in January and Asia Team Championships in February this year. He only played one full match in the Asia team meet after initially suffering a lower back injury in the first round of the Malaysian tourney.
His misery was compounded after he missed out on a spot in the Paris Olympics. Prior to his injury, Tze Yong looked good to qualify at the beginning of the year together with Lee Zii Jia.
A country could have two representatives if both were ranked in the top 16 in the world but Tze Yong dropped out.
There were initially hopes that he could compete again in August but the rehabilitation process seem to be taking longer than expected.
Now, Tze Yong faces a nervous wait to see if he can compete again this year or whether he will even be able to get back to the form he was in.
Tze Yong’s best achievement last year was reaching the final of the Arctic Open, where he lost to Zii Jia.
