PETALING JAYA (ANN/THE STAR) – Following his inability to fully recuperate from back surgery, men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong has been excluded from the Thomas Cup squad.
The 23-year-old underwent surgery in February for a spinal disc injury and was initially chosen as one of the singles players for the prestigious team event scheduled from April 27 to May 5. Choong Hon Jian will step in as his replacement.
“Tze Yong’s condition is still not good enough for him to play, so we had no choice but to drop him,” said national coaching director Rexy Mainaky when met at Akademi Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara on Friday (April 19).
“We choose Hon Jian as we have more options in the doubles than the singles.”
Hon Jian will join Mohd Haikal Nazri, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzuddin Rumsani in the doubles in the team meet.
Tze Yong’s absence is a blow to the team’s chances in the Thomas Cup as he is currently the country’s second highest ranked singles player at No 18 in the world, behind No 10 Zii Jia.
Jun Hao (No 37), June Wei (No 63) and youngster Justin (No 233) will need to step up to fill the void left by Tze Yong.
