KUALA LUMPUR: AFTER his best-ever World Tour result, a runner-up finish at the Arctic Open Super 500 last week, shuttler Ng Tze Yong climbed two spots to achieve a career-best ranking of No. 17 in the world rankings released today.
And the man who defeated him in Sunday's final in Vantaa, Lee Zii Jia, is nearing a return to the world's top-10, having climbed three spots to No. 11.
Tze Yong's promotion was well-deserved, given the significant progress he made over the past month.
During this period, he reached the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open and the quarter-finals of the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The 23-year-old first entered the top-20 in June, but it wasn't until his commendable performance in Hong Kong last month that he truly broke through.
There's a chance for Tze Yong to break into the top-15 next week, but he'll need to reach at least the final of the Denmark Open Super 750 this week.
Tze Yong is set to face China's Lu Guang Zu in the opening round today. A victory would pit him against the second seed, Anthony Ginting of Indonesia, in the last 16.
For Zii Jia, the 25-year-old has seen a climb of five spots in just two weeks.
Having once been ranked as high as No. 2 between November last year and January this year, a series of lacklustre results caused him to slide continuously, ultimately dropping out of the top 10 in June.
He descended to No. 18 in July, marking his worst position in four years.
However, maintaining his current rank might prove challenging for Zii Jia, and he could potentially drop again.
This is because he was a finalist in last year's Denmark Open and needs to defend the points he garnered from that edition.
Zii Jia will begin his campaign against Julien Carraggi of Belgium, who stepped in for the withdrawn Priyanshu Rajawat.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Zii Jia is poised for an enticing last-16 clash with world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen.
In men's doubles, Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun soared to No. 19, a climb of four spots from last week, thanks to their runner-up finish at the Arctic Open.
No. 19 remains Wei Chong and Kai Wun's highest rank to date, a position they previously held for three weeks in December of the preceding year.
Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik (No. 4), Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah, and Chen Tang Jie-Toh Ee Wei (both at No.9) held their ground, continuing as the top-ranked pairs in men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles, respectively.