Ng Tze Yong is keeping his cards closed ahead of his anticipated men’s singles showdown against Zhao Jun Peng at the World Championships next week.
The Johor-born showed a marked improvement in recent months, beating big names such as Viktor Axelsen, Chou Tien-chen, Loh Kean Yew and Jonatan Christie to hover just outside the world top 20.
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Ng will face Zhao whom he never met before, and coach Hendrawan last week mentioned they had been analysing the Chinese shuttler’s game.
When asked on his preparations, the 23-year-old kept a closed lid, preferring to let his performance to speak for itself.
“I can’t answer that right now, I will unveil my strategy when the tournament begins. What I can say is that my confidence is high after beating higher ranked players. I just have to find a way to be more consistent, as I have been winning one match and losing the next.
“I just need to maintain the same focus in every match from now,” he told Stadium Astro, adding he gained four kilograms since the Thomas Cup.
“My weight has gone up to 70 kilos, from around 66. So in terms of my physical condition, I am used to engaging in long matches. But as for Jun Peng, I have not played him yet, so I just need to go out and give my best,” he added.
Zhao is four rungs lower than Ng at 26th on the world rankings, and is looking for a good outing himself after not making past the last 16 in all his events this year.
But the 27-year-old had a bronze medal from last year’s edition in Tokyo.
