KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 23 — National men’s singles player, Ng Tze Yong, recently received an injection to relieve the back pain he suffered during the Badminton Asia Team Championship (BATC) 2024 in Shah Alam, Selangor, recently.

Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky said the injection Tze Yong received at the National Sports Institute, Bukit Jalil, is expected to help him return to action at two tournaments in Europe, namely the 2024 French Open from March 5-10 followed by the 2024 All England tournament from March 12-17.

“Based on the conversation with Tze Yong, if the injection is successful, he can train normally,” he told reporters when met after the training session here today.

Rexy said the 23-year-old player is currently only undergoing light training following the injury he suffered in the BATC 2024 quarter-final match against Singaporean Jason Teh, last Friday.

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The world’s 16th-ranked player lasted only about three minutes before being forced to withdraw from the biennial tournament when trailing 1-3 to Jason.

Tze Yong is scheduled to open his campaign at the 2024 French Open by meeting Taiwan’s Su Li Yang while in All England 2024, he will meet India’s Lakshya Sen in the opening round.

Rexy admitted that the player from Johor was clearly disappointed with his situation as he was hunting for a slot for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris from July 26 to August 11.

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Tze Yong is currently in 15th place in the Race to Paris ranking with 58,735 points.

According to the Paris 2024 qualification criteria, a total of 35 quota places, one host country place and two global places are allocated for individual events.

A country can only have a maximum of two players in a singles category if both are in the top 16 at the end of the Race to Paris qualifying period scheduled for April 28. — Bernama