Ng Tze Yong’s sensational Commonwealth Games continued as he knocked out world champion Loh Kean Yew, a few days after helping Malaysia win the Mixed Team event.
Loh had breezed into the quarterfinals and there were few signs of the struggles ahead when he closed out the first game against Ng Tze Yong of Malaysia with similar efficiency, winning 21-15 on the show court inside the cavernous NEC, a few miles southeast of central Birmingham.
But in the biggest shock of the competition so far, Ng hit back to take the second 21-14 before over-running the Singaporean in the third, 21-11.
“This is the biggest win of my career so far — I just feel amazing,” Ng, who had beaten Kidambi Srikanth in the team final, said. “I need to say thank you to the crowd, especially when I was tired they supported me a lot.
“I gave my best just now and I hope tomorrow can be the same. I hope to progress to the final but my next match is against a former world No.1.”
Ng Tze Yong will once again run into Kidambi Srikanth.
Ng will once again meet Kidambi, with the Indian shutting out home favourite Toby Penty.
Loh tried to salvage what he could from the loss.
“It’s disappointing, obviously, but in the first game I think I played better than I thought,” Loh said. “Of course he played a good game. I just need to go back, reflect, analyse with my coach what went wrong and then find the solution to it.”
Loh suggested the pressures of December’s surprise win at the worlds in Huelva had begun to impact his performances.
“I think most of it (pressure) is from myself. I need to find out how to overcome the mental aspects. It’s not easy so I’ll just keep trying. It’s definitely more tiring. I’ve been competing since May with only a little bit of a break. I need to do that but every match I go into I still try my best.”
Highlights
♦ Pusarla V Sindhu was taken the distance by Goh Jn Wei, with the Indian prevailing 19-21 21-14 21-18.
♦ Scotland are in the hunt for two gold, with Kirsty Gilmour beating Aakarshi Kashyap and Adam Hall/Julie Macpherson overcoming Chan Peng Soon/Cheah Yee See, both in straight games.
♦ Scratch Australian pair Wendy Chen/Gronya Somerville took out one of the title favourites, Rachel Honderich/Kristen Tsai, 18-21 21-15 21-16.
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