SHAH ALAM – National singles player Ng Tze Yong delivered a boost for the men’s badminton team by demonstrating dominance in his opening game at the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships held at the Setia City Convention Centre, here today.
The 24-year-old, who is yet to fully recover from a torn back muscle sustained at the Malaysia Open last month, was the first to take to the court against Brunei’s Kah Kit Kan.
The 15th-ranked Tze Yong’s cautious play gave Malaysia a solid start as he easily cruised past the world number 350 with a score of 21-7, 21-11 in 23 minutes.
“This is my first match of 2024, and I think it’s a good performance on my part, even though I can still feel some stiffness in my back. I will need to discuss with my coach whether I’ll be able to play my next game, as he has instructed me to provide feedback after this match,” said Tze Yong after the match.
“Even though I made six jumping smashes, I was trying not to exert myself. I may have played safe but most importantly I gave my best to win the game for my team.”
His winning momentum continued to the second men’s singles shuttler, Leong Jun Hao, who crushed Ali Marhanif 21-5, 21-6 in 19 minutes.
Despite feeling out of sync during the first few minutes of the match, Jun Hao eventually found his footing and sent his opponent packing in straight sets.
The third men’s singles match saw 19-year-old Eogene Ewe Eon easily defeating Mattew Minggat 21-8, 21-4 in 23 minutes to make the score 3-0 to Malaysia.
The doubles pair of Choong Hon Jian-Muhammad Haikal Nazri also made short work of Bruneian duo Marhanif Ali-Haziq Roze, annihilating them in 20 minutes with a score of 21-5, 21-12.
The 5-0 sweep was finished off in spectacular fashion by Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin, who beat Mattew Minggat-Iqbal Asyraf Mohamad 21-9, 21-7 in a 19-minute match.
Malaysia currently top Group B, which consists of Chinese Taipei, Kazakhstan and Brunei.
The Malaysian men’s team will take on Kazakhstan in their second group-stage match tomorrow.
Meanwhile, in another group tie today, Chinese Taipei defeated Kazakhstan, 5-0.
The top-four teams will also earn automatic qualification to the Thomas Cup finals in China from April 28 to May 5. – February 13, 2024