Although Tze Yong won silver in the men’s singles and helped the national squad win gold in the mixed team event in Birmingham, former national player Roslin Hashim still has doubts about the shuttler’s ability to perform in Japan.
Roslin expects Tze Yong to have a difficult time in the tournament that will be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, as the world No 42 is still new to elite competition, and also qualified at the last minute following the withdrawal of players from other countries.
“I don’t dare to put a target for Tze Yong at the World Championships, he is still new and we can’t expect too much from him.
“There is no denying that he played well, including pulling off upsets against two world-renowned players in Birmingham, but I hope that Tze Yong, who will be going in as an underdog, will be more relaxed if he wants to go far in Japan,” he told Bernama.
Tze Yong stunned world champion Loh Kean Yew of Singapore, 15-21, 21-14, 21-11, in the quarterfinals and world No 13 Srikanth Kidambi of India, 13-21, 21-19, 21-10, in the semifinals at the quadrennial games in Birmingham.
The player from Johor also deserves praise for his high fighting spirit in the final despite losing 21-19, 9-21, 16-21 to India’s top singles shuttler Lakshya Sen.
Tze Yong will open his campaign in Tokyo against Malaysian Masters champion from Indonesia, Chico Aura Dwi Widoyo, in the first round.
Meanwhile, Roslin said it was not impossible that veteran shuttler Liew Daren could pull off a surprise by beating the world No 1 player, Viktor Axelsen, in the opening round.
He said Daren still had a chance, because there had been cases of other world champions faltering in the first round while they were still trying to adapt in a competition.
Badminton fans would certainly have not forgotten the sudden defeat of national badminton legend Lee Chong Wei, who was eliminated in the first round at the 2017 edition in Glasgow by Brice Leverdez from France 19-21, 24-22, 17-21.
Not only that, other famous players have also become ‘victims’ in the first round, including Chen Long (of China) who lost to Kevin Cordon from Guatemala 19-21, 21-17, 25-27 in the 2011 edition in London.
World No 2 Kento Momota of Japan lost to Hong Kong’s Wei Nan 12-18, 18-21, 12-21 in the 2014 edition in Copenhagen.
Malaysia’s best bet to win the title in Tokyo, Lee Zii Jia, is scheduled to open his campaign against Leverdez.
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