SHAH ALAM, Feb 16 — National singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong was forced to concede a walkover in the quarter-final against Singapore in the 2024 Badminton Asia Team Championships today following a recurrence of a back injury he sustained in the 2024 Malaysia Open last month.

The world number 15 Tze Yong was on court for only three minutes before being forced to retire while trailing 1-3 in the first game against Singapore’s Jason Teh at the Setia City Convention Centre here.

"It still hurts, so I am not 100 recovered yet. Players don’t want to be injured, so it’s not good. I just want to recover fast,” he told reporters here today.

Meanwhile, the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) posted on Instagram that Tze Yong, who was taken to undergo a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test after helping Malaysia defeat Brunei 5-0 on Tuesday (February 13), has yet to regain full fitness.

"Following his match against Brunei, Tze Yong underwent an MRI, which confirmed that he is not 100 per cent fit. Hence, he was rested against Kazakhstan and Taiwan.

"Tze Yong underwent treatment at the hospital yesterday to prepare him for the match against Singapore and ensure that he is in the best possible shape,” the statement added.

Tze Yong had previously pulled out from the first round of the Malaysia Open while trailing 8-12 in the first game to Koki Watanabe of Japan in January.

The statement added that another men’s singles shuttler, Lee Zii Jia also had to be rested in today’s quarter-final due to illness after playing in yesterday’s match against Taiwan.

"Zii Jia was also taken ill after his match against Taiwan yesterday and advised by the specialist to rest due to sinus issues. The coaches decided to field Ng Tze Yong in first singles and maintain Leong Jun Hao and Eogene Ewe as the second and third singles players,” the statement added. — Bernama