UP-AND-COMING shuttler Ng Tze Yong will make his Malaysia Open debut on Wednesday.
Up until the team managers' meeting today, the world No 48 was still on the reserved list. However, he was notified at the eleventh hour that he had made the cut for the Super 750 event at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
Tze Yong is the third Malaysian in the men's singles draw after world No 5 Lee Zii Jia and former World Championships bronze medallist Liew Daren. He will open his campaign against world No 25 Lu Guang Zu of China.
Tze Yong, whose last tournament was the Thailand Open in Bangkok last month, said: "I'm super excited to make the cut. I really didn't expect this but I'm also ready.
"I have been training hard since the Thailand Open, and I believe I am in much better shape physically."
Among the big names who withdrew from the Malaysia Open were Thomas Cup winners from India, Lakshya Sen and K.Srikanth, Japan's Kanta Tsuneyama and world No 3 Anders Antonsen of Denmark.
Tze Yong, whose best result this year was the semi-finals of the India Open in January, was sat out of the Indonesia Open and Indonesia Masters earlier this month by the BA of Malaysia (BAM), who wanted to work on the player's game.
On his readiness to face some of the best players in the world, Tze Yong, who will replace Zii Jia at next month's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, added: "I don't want to think too much about my standard against the top players.
"I have been training hard too, and I will need to face them sooner or later.
"My focus is on my preparation and game. I believe I'm in good shape and I'm ready."
Due to the withdrawals, Zii Jia will now face Ireland's Nhat Nguyen. Daren will take to court first today against India's H.S.Prannoy.
Former world No 1 Lee Chong Wei was the last Malaysian men's singles player to clinch the Malaysia Open crown, achieved in 2018.
