Don’t overstretch: Ng Tze Yong has already started his training but he’s not in full swing yet as he’s still doing his rehab.
PETALING JAYA: Ng Tze Yong’s name has been listed for the Malaysian Open in January next year but whether he gets to play or not will be decided closer to the tournament.
Tze Yong suffered a back injury during the first round of the home tournament this year and aggravated his injury further during the Asian Team championships in February and underwent two surgeries.
He has not competed in any tournament since then but the good news is that he has started his training and has been staying positive.
While happy with the 24-year-old Tze Yong’s progress, national singles coach K. Yogendran is being cautious.
“Tze Yong has already started his training but he’s not in full swing yet. He is still doing his rehab. We will wait a bit longer to see whether he can play in the Malaysian Open or not.
“We’ve entered his name for the Malaysian Open but we will wait for our new head coach Kenneth (Jonassen) to review his condition and form in training before deciding.’’
Jonassen will start his job officially in January, just at the right time before the home tournament (Jan 7-12).
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) have granted protected ranking for Tze Yong until April next year due to his unexpected injury, which means he can still play in top-tier World Tour tournaments for now.
He was ranked 18 in the world before the prolonged break took place. Currently, in the BWF rankings though, he has dropped out of the top 100.
Tze Yong is one of the four men’s singles players named under the elite squad following a new structure.
The others are Justin Hoh, Leong Jun Hao and Eogene Ewe.
While Jun Hao and Eogene are at home, Justin will begin his campaign in the Syed Modi International starting today with the main draw action. Justin will play Mithun Manjunath of India in the first round.
