Tze Yong smashes way into top 30

JAYA: Men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong (pic) achieved his aim of breaking into the top 30 this year when he reached a careerhigh 29th in the world ranking.

Tze Yong’s semi-final finish in the recent Australian Open in Sydney propelled him to his highest ranking in what has been a breakthrough year for the 22-year-old.

The youngster has improved by leaps and bounds and established himself as the Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) No. 1 shuttler and second best in the country behind independent player and world No. 2 Lee Zii Jia.

The BAM high performance director Dr Tim Jones was pleased with Tze Yong’s progress throughout the year and wants him to keep up his good work after this.

“I’m happy with Tze Yong’s progress so far. His results in Australia really helped to advance his rankings and set him up for next year to compete in the higher level tournaments.

“This is where things will become more difficult as he will likely be drawn against seeded players in the first round,” said Jones.

“Credit must go to Tze Yong for working hard and also to the coaching team and support staff around him.

‘’He still has much to improve on, which is an exciting prospect as we believe he can push into the top 20 and higher next year, which will give him a chance to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

‘’We will need to keep working hard on court and in the gym to make that a reality.’’