KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — Badminton fans in the country are certainly looking forward to the magical touch of national men's singles player Ng Tze Yong at the World Badminton Championships in Tokyo, starting tomorrow after showing an excellent performance at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games recently.
Despite winning silver in the men's singles as well as helping the national squad win gold in the mixed team event in Birmingham, former national player Roslin Hashim still has doubts about Tze Yong's ability at the prestigious tournament in Japan.
Roslin expects Tze Yong to have a difficult path in the tournament that will be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium because the world number 42 is still new to elite competition and also qualified at the last minute following the withdrawal of players from other countries.
"I don't dare to put a target for Tze Yong at the World Championships, he is still new and we can't expect too much from him.
"There is no denying that he played well, including pulling off upsets against two world-renowned players in Birmingham, but I hope that Tze Yong, who will be going down as an underdog, will be more relaxed if he wants to go far in Japan," he told Bernama.
Tze Yong stunned world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, 15-21, 21-14, 21-11, in the quarterfinals and world number 13 Srikanth Kidambi of India, 13-21, 21-19, 21-10, in semi-finals at the quadrennial games in Birmingham.
The player from Johor also deserves praise for his high fighting spirit in the final despite losing 21-19, 9-21, 16-21 to India's top singles shuttler Lakshya Sen.
Tze Yong will open his campaign in Tokyo against Malaysian Masters champion from Indonesia, Chico Aura Dwi Widoyo, in the first round.
Meanwhile, Roslin said it was not impossible that veteran shuttler Liew Daren could pull off a surprise by beating the world number one player, Viktor Axelsen, in the opening round.
He said there is still a chance for Daren because based on previous records there have been cases of other world champions faltering in the first round because they were still looking for their rhythm to adapt to the competition atmosphere.
Badminton fans would certainly have not forgotten the sudden defeat of national badminton legend Datuk Lee Chong Wei who was eliminated in the first round at the 2017 edition in Glasgow by Brice Leverdez from France 19-21, 24-22, 17-21.
Not only that, several other famous players also became 'victims' in the first round including Chen Long (of China) who lost to Kevin Cordon from Guatemala 19-21, 21-17, 25-27 in the 2011 edition in London.
World number two Kento Momota of Japan lost to Hong Kong player Wei Nan 12-18, 18-21, 12-21 in the 2014 edition in Copenhagen.
Malaysia’s best bet to win the title in Tokyo, Lee Zii Jia, is scheduled to open his campaign against Leverdez. — Bernama
