KUALA LUMPUR – Can Ng Tze Yong pull off yet another giant-killing tomorrow?
After stunning the badminton world by dispatching the reigning Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen at the All England Open in March, he continued his giant-killing spree with victories over India’s H.S. Prannoy at the China Open and Chinese Taipei’s Chou Tien-chen at the Swiss Open.
As anticipation builds for the Malaysian’s second-round match at the Kumamoto Masters Japan tomorrow, all eyes are on Tze Yong as he prepares to face the formidable Axelsen once again.
This comes after he defeated Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu-wei in the opening round of the men’s singles today.
The 23-year-old Malaysian, currently ranked 15th in the world, dominated the court with a swift 37-minute triumph, defeating his opponent 21-12, 21-11 in straight games.
In another men’s singles match, former teammate Lee Zii Jia faced a setback against Denmark’s 10th-ranked Anders Antonsen at the Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium.
Despite a fiercely contested match lasting 54 minutes, Zii Jia succumbed to Antonsen’s prowess, 18-21, 20-22, marking his fifth defeat to the Dane in seven meetings.
Meanwhile, as expected, top national men’s doubles pair Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik advanced to the second round after the second-ranked duo took only 33 minutes to defeat their Chinese Taipei opponents, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin 21-18, 21-14.
Their next challenge awaits as they gear up to face Japan’s Akira Koga-Taichi Saito.
Unfortunately, the same fate did not befall Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani, as they tasted defeat to Indonesia’s Rahmat Hidayat-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
In a match lasting 32 minutes, the Malaysian pair fell short to lose 19-21, 14-21. – November 15, 2023