Seng Zoe reigniting singles career after long absence

KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Yeoh Seng Zoe (pic) is all ready to reignite his men’s singles career with the national team after being out of action since January last year.

The 20-year-old Seng Zoe was one of the rare club players roped into the national team in January last year, but his joy was short-lived when he injured his knee.

It ruled him out of action for almost one and a half years.

He returned to competition at the Victor International Series in Surabaya, Indonesia, last month and the Vietnam Open this week. He crashed out in the early rounds in both tournaments.

Seng Zoe actually had to undergo a three-month probation before he was selected to represent Malaysia at the two international tournaments.

“I’ve been out of action for a long time. I get nervous when I play. Maybe it’s the fear of getting injured again,” admitted Seng Zoe.

“I perform well in training but not during competition. I must learn to overcome this and move forward.”

Seng Zoe was with the Looi Badminton Academy for three years before he was spotted by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) in 2015, when he defeated two Bukit Jalil Sports School (BJSS) players en route to winning the Under-18 title in the National Junior Circuit Grand Prix Finals.

He then went on to be the only independent shuttler selected to represent Malaysia at the World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru.

Seng Zoe is one of nine back-up shuttlers training under men’s singles head coach Datuk Misbun Sidek and the two national coaches from Indonesia – Hendrawan and Indra Widjaya.

The other second-stringers are Soong Joo Ven, Lee Zii Jia, Lim Chi Wing, Tan Jia Wei, Cheam June Wei, Soo Teck Zhi, Leong Jun Hao and Sim Fong Hau.

None have won any big Open titles.

The seniors in the team are Lee Chong Wei, Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin and Chong Yee Han.