KUALA LUMPUR: The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) is taking an approach of not putting too much pressure on the country’s men’s singles player Ng Tze Yong in his pursuit of a slot at the 2024 Paris Olympics, following his injuries.
BAM president Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria said while Tze Yong, who is scheduled to participate in two Olympic qualifying tournaments, the French Open on March 5 to 10, followed by the All England on March 12 to 17, he will be given space to fully recover first.
Tze Yong was confirmed to be suffering from spinal pain due to an injury sustained during the 2024 Asian Team Badminton Championship (BATC) in Shah Alam, Selangor, last week.
“As we all know, he suffered a serious injury. Of course we hope this injury will not prevent his participation to continue the Olympic qualification tournament.
“However, we place Tze Yong’s health more important than the qualifications. We do not want him to compete if it will cause lasting injuries that are difficult to treat,“ he told reporters at the Bukit Kiara Badminton Academy Malaysia (ABM), here today.
Mohamad Norza said the governing body takes a more cautious attitude in dealing with the injury issue and hoped for the best for the 23-year-old player.
“I think we have to look in detail at the medical report on whether he could continue participating in the qualifying tournament or not.
“I also want the parties involved to discuss with him. We don’t want to force him if he’s not ready yet. I hope the National Sports Institute (ISN) and the coaching staff can help plan and see which tournaments he can participate in,“ he said.
Meanwhile, the BAM in a statement today confirmed that Tze Yong has decided to skip the two qualifying tournaments since he would be undergoing treatment.
According to the statement, after discussing with Tze Yong’s team, it was agreed that the main focus should be on his rehabilitation after going through a minor surgery to his back, next week.
“The surgery will prevent Tze Yong from badminton action for between two to six weeks. The focus now is on treatment and recovery of Tze Yong.
“Once he recovers and is ready, we will have a meeting to discuss the next possible action. For the time being we want him to focus on treatment and overcome his injury,“ said BAM Coaching Director Rexy Mainaky. - Bernama
