KUALA LUMPUR — National men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong is keeping his expectations in check for the 2025 Badminton Asia Championships (BAC) in Ningbo, China, which marks his return to competition after more than a year sidelined by a back injury.
Tze Yong, who last played at the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships in Selangor, said his main focus is to regain his competitive rhythm at the BAC, scheduled for April 8-13.
“I feel my physical condition is about 80 to 90%.
“What’s important is to avoid getting injured again and to give my best with what I have right now,” he told reporters after a training session at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) today.
The 24-year-old faces a tough opener in Ningbo, where he is set to take on 2023 world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand. Kunlavut, who also claimed silver at the 2024 Olympics, has won both their previous encounters.
Tze Yong managed only three tournaments last season before undergoing surgery for his back injury, which kept him out of action for an extended period.
Previously, singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen stressed that the Johor-born player must compete in at least one tournament before the end of April to retain his world number 18 ranking for another six months.
Failure to do so would see Tze Yong lose all his ranking points, dropping him out of the standings entirely and forcing him to start from scratch. — March 28, 2025