KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s hope to win the Malaysia Open title in the men’s singles category ended today as national badminton player Ng Tze Yong was forced to pull out from his first-round match against Japan’s Koki Watanabe due to injury.
Last night, independent player Lee Zii Jia was knocked out by China’s Lu Guangzu in the first round, losing 16-21, 21-19, 21-15 at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
With the score tied at 7-7, Tze Yong stretched while executing a smash but failed to take the return shot by Watanabe as the world number 15 immediately walked off the court and was in visible discomfort before calling for medical attention.
Upon receiving treatment, Tze Yong continued the match but was forced to retire when the score was at 12-8.
“I injured my back when I went up for a smash and afterwards I felt intense pain and I could not move.
“Before the match, I was fine, only after executing the smash did I feel the pain.
“I don’t know what caused this injury, no player wants to be injured but I will figure out the cause.
“The pain is really bad, even talking to everyone right now I’m still in pain,” Tze Yong said after the match.
At the same time, women’s doubles pair Anna Cheong and Teoh Mei Xing lost to world number two pair Baek Ha-na and Lee So-hee of South Korea 21-14, 21-13.
Anna said the South Koreans had a better game plan.
“Our opponents read our game faster and used a good strategy to counter our play.
“Nothing really went wrong for us they just brought a better game plan to the court against us.
“I feel excited to compete with players on the level of Ha-na and So-hee, that chance doesn’t come often, especially at home,” said Anna.
Mei Xing said the opportunity to play against a top pair like the South Koreans allowed them to learn from the best.
“Their strength and speed is so much better than us, so that is something we can improve.
“From a strategy point of view we tried to change our tactics to win points but they adapted to that,” said Mei Xing. – January 10, 2024