SHAH ALAM, Feb 19 — National badminton singles player Ng Tze Yong will only be sent to participate in tournaments in the World Badminton Federation (BWF) calendar after fully recovering from the recent recurrence of his back injury, which had plagued him recently.

National singles coach Datuk Tey Seu Bock stated that he is reluctant to rush decisions by sending Tze Yong to tournaments, instead opting to strategise with the coaching staff to improve the ranking of the world’s 15th-ranked player to make him eligible for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

However, Seu Bock said that a full report on Tze Yong’s condition would only be available next week due to their busy schedule in the just-concluded 2024 Badminton Asian Team Championships (BATC).

“When there’s an injury, our focus is on recovery first. After the player fully recovers and gets the doctor’s approval to play, only then will we send to tournaments.

“For Olympic qualification, we need to consider the points, where the athlete can collect points, and that’s important. We need to calculate those points carefully,” he told reporters at the Setia City Convention Centre, the venue for the BATC, here yesterday.

Tze Yong, who withdrew from the quarterfinals against Singapore’s Jason Teh on Friday (February 16), lasted only about three minutes before being forced to withdraw, after suffering another back injury similar to the one he endured during last month’s Malaysia Open.

Regarding the performance of national singles player Leong Jun Hao in the BATC final, Seu Bock hopes the 24-year-old can display equally impressive performance in future individual tournaments.

“Jun Hao’s performance in this tournament has been impressive. Previously, we didn’t focus much on him, but with the absence of Tze Yong and Lee Zii Jia, he rose to the occasion and performed well.

“It’s good for him because previously people thought he was inconsistent, but I hope his performance isn’t limited to team events and continues in individual tournaments,” he said.

Meanwhile, national men’s team manager Tan Bin Shen said that national men’s doubles player Soh Wooi Yik has played his role as team captain well in the 2024 BATC.

Bin Shen also said that the 2022 world champion with his partner, Aaron Chia, always strive their best to ensure they can contribute valuable points for the team when facing opponents on the court.

“I think Wooi Yik took responsibility (as captain) to ensure that all games ran smoothly and all players performed well. They (Aaron-Wooi Yik) need to deliver the points. So, I think this is a good process to give them that feeling of responsibility,” he said.

Malaysia, who lost 0-3 to China in the 2024 BATC final yesterday, did not compete with two mainstays of the country, Lee Zii Jia and Tze Yong. The former had breathing difficulties due to sinusitis while Tze Yong had the back injury. — Bernama