PETALING JAYA: The burden seemed to have lifted from shuttler Ng Tze Yong’s (pic) shoulders.
Tze Yong looked happy and relaxed during training yesterday as he aims to make a comeback in the men’s singles even in April after going through two back surgeries.
The 24-year-old last played in the Asia Team Championships a year ago and has dropped to No. 269 in the latest world rankings.
He needs to play at least one tournament in April to safeguard his protected ranking of No. 18 or face having to start again in lower tier competitions.
Tze Yong believes he is progressing well in training and hopes to return to tournaments before the end of April.
“I returned to full training last week Monday and I’m feeling positive as I can at least come back to court,” said Tze Yong after a training session at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
“Currently, I’m training three times a week and undergoing strength and conditioning sessions at the National Sports Institute (NSI) on the other days,” said Tze Yong.
“I feel I’m getting better. I am at about 60 percent now and my target is to return to competitions in April, so that I can still use my protected ranking. I’m ready to make my comeback.”
Tze Yong though is still remaining cautious and hopes to be able to train more first.
“I only train about one hour now and only on alternate days, so I still need to be careful as I have to play every day in tournaments,” said Tze Yong.
“I have been having positive talks with coach Kenneth (Jonassen) and we want to avoid overtraining. I can only fully gauge my condition when I’m able to train every day.”
Tze Yong also believes that he is slowly overcoming the trauma of his back injuries after what has been a tough year for him.
“I still love to play badminton and this has been my biggest motivation to keep me going,” said Tze Yong.
“I don’t feel pain in my back anymore but after some hard training, my body feels sore. I’m not used to it yet but I will be able to adapt as time goes on.
“When there’s no pain, I don’t feel the trauma of my injuries. When I’m able to train for one month, then the trauma should go away.”
Tze Yong was rising up to be a feared player before the back injury derailed his progress.
