Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s men’s singles coach, Hendrawan hoped World No. 42 Ng Tze Yong could maintain his momentum similar to how he was playing at the 2022 Commonwealth Games when he competes at the 2022 World Badminton Championships which will be held in Tokyo from August 21 to August 28.
“It’s normal for players to struggle, including Tze Yong, Zii Jia, myself, and everyone else,” said Hendrawan.
Hendrawan said that everyone would definitely start paying attention to Ng but he would also want everyone to give Ng enough time to grow and become one of the best men’s singles players in the world.
“A lot of people will start analyzing him. It’s normal, and it’s one of the big challenges for Tze Yong,” said Hendrawan.
“The media could also help Tze Yong indirectly, by not focusing too much on his achievements,” explained Hendrawan.
“And if he loses, don’t criticize him too much. Although Tze Yong has shown great improvement in recent months, he is still in the process of becoming a strong player,” added Hendrawan.
Ng Tze Yong performed brilliantly at the 2022 Commonwealth Games two weeks ago as he helped Malaysia clinch the mixed team gold by beating India 3-1 in the final.
He also sprung surprises by beating reigning World Champion, Loh Kean Yew of Singapore and reigning World’s silver medalist, Kidambi Srikanth of India, en route to the men’s singles final, before losing Lakshya Sen of India to settle for silver.
Ng qualified for the 2022 World Championships for the first time at the last minute due to the withdrawal of other players and he will open the campaign against the 2022 Malaysian Masters champion, Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.
