SHAH ALAM – National singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann expressed his pride for shuttler Ng Tze Yong for delivering a stable performance throughout the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) 2022 tournament so soon after recovering from Covid-19.
In a thrilling final round yesterday, the 21-year-old delivered the third point for Malaysia with a resounding 21-14, 21-15 win over Indonesia’s Ikhsan Leonardo Imanuel Rumbay, thereby securing the nation its first BATC title since the competition began in 2016.
Choong Hann, who was the first Malaysian to win a medal in the men’s singles event at the BWF World Championships, said despite Tze Yong’s stable performance, it was not entirely his best play.
“Because he had been infected with Covid, he had to go through a ten-day quarantine, which prohibited him from training. So, we had to make strategic changes so that that he could keep going,” Choong Hann said after Malaysia’s triumphant win yesterday.
“Sometimes, you could even see that he struggled to keep his focus but thankfully, he was strong enough to not let it affect his performance.”
Choong Hann admitted that going against second stringers from other countries also helped ease some of the pressure.
“This time around, our singles department had the best line-up, which contributed to the win.
“Perhaps, the challenge was lesser because a lot of the players were second stringers – then again, many of them did outdo themselves.
“Although we treat every opponent with respect, this is a tournament and we come to win regardless of who we face,” he said.
Meanwhile, badminton doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky applauded doubles pair Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik for holding on to their fighting spirit and not giving up.
“I’m very proud of Wooi Yik and Aaron because they managed to overcome their challenges from the start of the match right up to the final round − although they were not at 100% leading up to the finals,” said the Indonesian ex-shuttler.
The duo followed Lee Zii Jia’s footsteps and doubled Malaysia’s lead against Indonesia after the top singles shuttler secured the first point for the nation in his opening match.
However, in the women’s semi-final doubles match, Rexy said Valeree Siow was seemingly impatient most of the time when she and Pearly Tan partnered up against South Korean duo Baek Ha-Na-Seong Seung Yeon.
“She was impatient like 80-90% of the time, which caused her to make a lot of mistakes. Nevertheless, this would be an invaluable lesson for her,” he said.
Pearly had to − at the last minute − team up with Valeree after learning that partner M. Thinaah would be absent from the tournament after testing positive for Covid-19.
“Without Thinaah, there was a slight slump in performance,” Rexy added. – The Vibes, February 21, 2022
