KUALA LUMPUR - "This is the best result that we can produce, for now.”
That was the honest reaction from national men’s singles coach Hendrawan after watching Ng Tze Yong go down fighting 22-24, 16-21 to home shuttler and 12th seed Anders Antonsen in the second round of the 2023 World Badminton Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark on Wednesday.
While acknowledging the fact that Tze Yong had tried his best against the Dane at the Royal Arena, Hendrawan admitted that the unseeded Tze Yong was no match for Antonsen, for now.
"No excuses. Tze Yong lost to a better opponent, who is more mature and has more experience. There’s still much to improve and we’ll give our very best,” he said in a statement issued by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) today.
On Monday (Aug 21), the 23-year-old shuttler pulled of a sensational upset when he ousted the previous edition’s bronze medallist, China's Zhao Jun Peng, 21-19, 26-24 to check into the second round of the world meet.
Malaysia will now be counting on professional shuttler Lee Zii Jia to avenge Tze Yong’s painful defeat when he takes on Antonsen for a place in the last eight later today.
Yesterday, Zii Jia sailed into the third round with a 21-11, 21-16 win over Canadian Brian Yang. - BERNAMA