Latest news with #AsianTeamChampionships
The Star
17 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Jacky gets lucky
PETALING JAYA: Not everyone gets the chance to train with a world champion and Olympic gold medallist, but men's singles professional shuttler Jacky Kok is one of the lucky few. Jacky, who was part of the Malaysian team that won gold at the 2022 Asian Team Championships, is currently in Dubai training alongside Denmark's Viktor Axelsen at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex. He is accompanied by fellow Malaysian Chua Kim Sheng and had been sparring with the former world No. 1 for a week. Jacky's coach, former international Ong Ewe Hock, hopes the 21-year-old will make the most of this opportunity, saying there is much to learn from Axelsen in his quest to become a better player. Ewe Hock also revealed that this was not Jacky's first time sparring with Axelsen, having helped the two-time world champion prepare for the Malaysian Open last year. 'Last year, when Axelsen came for the Malaysian Open, he was looking for sparring partners, and I sent Jacky. With the legend: Jacky Kok (left) and Chua Kim Sheng posing with Viktor Axelsen at the Nad Al Sheba Sports Complex. — Jacky's Instagram 'They got to know each other then, and that led to this invitation to train with Axelsen in Dubai for a week. 'It's not easy to get this kind of opportunity, so I want him to soak up as much experience as he can, even if it's only for a short period. 'If he can observe how Axelsen trains and understands the environment there, it will help him grow in his career,' said Ewe Hock when contacted. One of Ewe Hock's other trainees, Cheam June Wei, also had a chance to train with Axelsen in Dubai back in 2022. At the same time, Ewe Hock shared that he was currently looking for suitable tournaments for Jacky to enter in his effort to further improve his players' world ranking. Jacky, who was dropped from the national team at the end of last year, has been steadily climbing the world rankings and is now placed No. 75. In March, he captured the Vietnam International Challenge title. 'Now that his ranking has improved slightly, we have better chances of getting into higher-tier tournaments. The only challenge is that those events usually require more funding,' said Ewe Hock. 'But to me, that's not an issue. I've told him that as long as he performs well, the sponsors will come. The real problem is when your performance drops, that's when the sponsors walk away,' he added.
New Straits Times
20-05-2025
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Tze Yong misses the Axiata cheers
KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Ng Tze Yong is excited to play in a home tournament after a 17-month absence, and will cherish fans support again at the Malaysia Masters in the first round at Axiata Arena tomorrow. Tze Yong injured his back at the same venue during the first round of the Malaysia Open in January last year and aggravated it at the Asian Team Championships in Shah Alam a month later. After two surgeries and a long layoff, Tze Yong's world ranking has plunged to No. 239, and he has not won any of his first round matches at the Asian Championships in China last month, the Taiwan Open and Thailand's Open over the last two weeks. Tze Yong will find himself the underdog when he plays world No. 21 Angus Ng of Hong Kong in the first round tomorrow despite the Malaysian's 2-1 head-to-head record. "I am really excited to play at this home tournament after more than a year. I missed the cheers and encouragement of the supporters," said Tze Yong. "I am the underdog now as my ranking has slipped down and past records don't matter. "Although I have not won since my comeback, I have been improving steadily where I played more than an hour at the Taiwan Open. I hope to get my first win here." Malaysia's world No. 25 Leong Jun Hao and world No. 45 Justin Hoh also face tough openers. Jun Hao, nursing an elbow niggle, will face a tough time against Ireland's world No. 33 Nhat Nguyen while Justin is up against world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka of Japan. National singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen hopes that the players can cash in on playing at home despite facing strong opposition. "I hope we can use the fact that we are playing at home as an advantage. They are meeting strong opponents, but we cannot expect anything else when competing in a Super 500 event," said Jonassen. "As for Justin, playing a world- class player like Naraoka is the best way to test his own ability." Justin, who was supposed to play in the qualifiers, was promoted to the main draw after the withdrawal of top seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark on Monday. In the women's singles first round, independent world No. 44 Goh Jin Wei will take on world No. 11 Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand while world No. 57 K. Letshanaa will play world No. 48 Han Qian Xi of China.
