Tze Yong’s Olympic qualification may be reversed through luck and last minute heroics

PETALING JAYA: Hendrawan is not throwing in the towel just yet on Ng Tze Yong’s (pic) qualification for the Paris Olympic Games.

Although all looks doom and gloom for Tze Yong after picking up a back injury, Hendrawan believes the door is not completely shut on his Olympic dream just yet.

The Indonesian coach says luck and strong determination after recovery could make a difference for Tze Yong.

The 23-year-old Tze Yong will go for a surgery this week and doctors have indicated that it will take two to six weeks for him to recover.

He will miss the French Open (March 5-10) and All-England (March 12-17) but his name is still listed for the Spain Masters (March 26-31) and Asian Championships (April 9-14), which are the last two Olympic qualifying tournaments for him.

In the Road to Paris currently, Tze Yong is ranked 15 with 58.735 points.

Malaysia can have two players if both of them are ranked in the top 16. The other Malaysian as good as assured is professional Lee Zii Jia, who is in the 10th spot.

Hendrawan said based on the current standing, players capable of overtaking Tze Yong in the Olympics race are India’s Lakshya Sen (54,521 points), China’s Lu Guangzu (54,241) and Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi (54,136).

“Two reasons can change Tze Yong’s fate,” said Hendrawan.

“It’s not nice to say it but if the other players like Lakshya, Guangzu and Chun-yi don’t do well, they can’t overtake Tze Yong. These players will have to reach the semis in the Super 300 tournaments and quarters in the Super 1000.

“Chun-yi for instance will take part in the German Open this week, if he does well, then the dynamics changes.

“The situation is tricky indeed for Tze Yong. Assuming that he recovers and plays in the Spain and Asia meet, he too has the responsibility to achieve good results as mere participation is not enough.

“He has to reach at least the semis in Spain and quarters in the Asia meet and at the same time, hopes that his nearest rivals will not do well.

“It does look tough on paper as we have to depend on the others and also see how quick his recovery is but I will stick with him until we know for sure on his Olympics participation.

“For now, of course, we want Tze Yong to go through the surgery and recover well. Post surgery can be different for different players, some may take long but some may adapt and make quick return.

While waiting for Tze Yong to come through the dark period in his life, Hendrawan and other coaches will focus on the other players like Leong Jun Hao, reigning Under-21 champion Eogene Ewe and Justin Hoh.