Opportunist on guard

Tze yong capitalises on withdrawals to reach semis but dangerman Guangzu looms

PETALING JAYA: National men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) took full advantage of the withdrawals of several top players from the Australian Open to reach his first World Tour semi-final since January.

World No. 33 Tze Yong was in his element when he needed only 29 minutes to brush aside unheralded homester Nathan Tang 21-9, 21-7 in the last eight at Quay Centre in Sydney yesterday.

The tournament had seen the likes of Thailand’s world championship silver medallist Kunlavut Vitidsarn (No. 9), Indonesian duo Anthony Ginting (No. 6), Jonatan Christie (No. 5) and India’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games champion Lakshya Sen (No. 7) pull out.

Tze Yong, who had been slated to meet Kunlavut in the opening round, did not waste the opportunity presented to him and will now go up against China’s Lu Guangzu today for a place in the final.

World No. 19 Guangzu will present a stern challenge for Tze Yong after ending the hopes of fellow Malaysian Lee Zii Jia in the second round on Thursday.

The Chinese continued his dominant form in the quarter-finals when he easily beat Indonesia’s Ikhsan Rumbay 21-12, 21-9.

Tze Yong, though, will be looking to avenge his narrow 16-21, 23-21, 18-21 loss to Guangzu in their only meeting so far in the Malaysian Open.

The Malaysian is also out to reach his first World Tour final and do better than his semi-final finish in the Indian Open in January.

There was further good news for Malaysia when independent men’s doubles pair Ong Yew Sin-teo Ee Yi joined Tze Yong in the last four.

World No. 8 Yew Sin-ee Yi stayed steady to overcome South Korea’s Kang Min-hyuk-seo Seung-jae 23-21, 21-12 in their last-eight tie.

They will now take on China’s world No. 28 He Jiting-zhao Haodong in the semi-finals.

Yew Sin-ee Yi have never played against the Chinese pair before.

In the women’s singles, Malaysia’s challenge came to an end when world No. 44 Goh Jin Wei found Thailand’s world No. 9 Pornpawee Chochuwong too hot to handle and went down 11-21, 13-21.