Tze Yong feels he can perform consistently after piling on kilos

PETALING JAYA: A frail looking Ng Tze Yong may not have ruffled feathers during his World Championships debut in Tokyo last year but he is gearing up to surprise his opponents in Copenhagen next week after toughening up.

He now weighs more and is sturdier.

Tze Yong said that his weight during the Sudirman Cup was around 66kg but it has moved up by four kilos to 70kg now.

He has shown better progress since his second-round loss to Sitthikom Thammasin of Thailand last year after his coach Hendrawan had emphasised on improving his physical strength.

The signs were there when Tze Yong secured his biggest scalp after shocking world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark to reach the All-England quarter-finals in March.

Besides his win over Axelsen, he had also beaten 2021 world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka Long, Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen and world No. 5 Jonatan Christie in Australia.

However, his roller-coaster performance between matches is something he has not mastered and the 23-year-old Malaysian wants to address it in the coming tournaments, starting with the tough opener against Zhao Junpeng of China, the semi-finalist last year.

“Of course, beating Axelsen was a big motivation but I need to produce that kind of results more consistently. I play well in one round but sometimes, can’t perform that way in the following stage,” said Tze Yong.

“This is what I have been trying to change. It’s not that I don’t want to concentrate in matches. My goal is to achieve a consistent string of victories after this.

“Physical strength and stamina had helped to improve my performance and I don’t feel tired like before and able to recover for the next day.

“I always give my best in every tournament and hopefully, I can achieve back-to-back victories against strong players after this.”

Tze Yong has chosen to remain cautious and doesn’t want to think any further than the clash against Junpeng at the world meet.

A victory should pit Tze Yong against Anders Antonsen of Denmark and further success should see him setting a third-round clash against compatriot Lee Zii Jia and a chance to see a Malaysian in the last eight.

Tze Yong said a clash with Zii Jia is far-fetched and his aim is on tackling Junpeng first.

“I don’t want to think too far ahead as I will meet a strong player in the first round. I just want to focus on that match and give my best,” added Tze Yong.

Second seed Antony Ginting of Indonesia has withdrawn from the major event and this would open the doors for many players, including Tze Yong, to battle for the final spot from the bottom half of the draw.

But the cautious Tze Yong has his own demons to slay and it will be just one match at a time for him.