KUALA LUMPUR – National singles player Ng Tze Yong will be running with the big dogs when the BWF World Championships kicks off tomorrow as the best players will descend in Tokyo eager to prove their worth.
The 22-year-old, who is ranked 42 in the world, is expected to make it past Indonesia’s Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, ranked at 35, at the opening round tomorrow.
When met at the Academy Badminton Malaysia, national men’s singles coach Hendrawan said the match will go in his favour if Tze Yong performs his best but the player will now have to manage being in the spotlight.
“Tze Yong is still young, so we do talk about handling pressure when on and off the court. But social media plays a big role in the lives of professional athletes. It is different from my time,” he added.
“I told him (Tze Yong) that there will be more people looking for him now after the Birmingham Commonwealth Games. The spotlight is on him, especially on social media.
“But most importantly, he doesn’t forget all the effort and training put in, and not be satisfied with his current success while he keeps pushing on,” Hendrawan stresses.
Despite winning silver at Birmingham, Hendrawan said: “The coaching team did not set a specific target for him, we just want him to go all out in the World Championships.”
“Anything can happen on the court.”
After the Commonwealth Games, Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) high-performance director Tim Jones had said Tze Yong might well make it to the quarter-finals if he maintained his form.
Tze Yong was called up for the World Championships at the last minute, similar to his eleventh-hour addition for the Commonwealth Games where he stood in for world no. 5 Lee Zii Jia.
Meanwhile, Zii Jia will take on France’s Brice Leverdez (world ranking 40) while Liew Daren (28) will face world number one Viktor Axelsen.
As for the women, world no. 54 S. Kisona will be making her second appearance at the tournament scheduled from August 22 to 28.
Hoping to improve on her first round exit last year during her debut, Kisona said she is ready to give it all out on the court.
“I don’t have any injuries and everything is going well. I am just going to give my best at the tournament,” she said at the Academy Badminton of Malaysia before departing for Tokyo.
Kisona will play Vietnam’s Vu Thi Trang (52) in the first round, while Soniia Cheah (38), who makes her first appearance since the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will take on Putri Kusuma Wardani (44) of Indonesia.
In the mixed-doubles category, Peck Yen Wei believes her preparations with partner Chen Tang Jie are ready for the World Championships.
“We have been partners for more than three years so we understand each other well,” she said
The pair, ranked 29th in the world, will meet Americans Mathew Fogarty-Isabel Zhong (118) in the opening, but Yen Wei said the match against Chinese duo Wang Yi Lyu-Huang Dong Ping will be tough.
They met the world no. 4 Chinese pair at the Badminton Asia Championships in April, where they lost 9-21, 19-21. – The Vibes, August 21, 2022
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