YEOSU: World No 23 Ng Tze Yong kept a cool head as he overcame a blister issue to march into the quarter-finals of the Korea Open in Yeosu today.
Tze Yong produced a fine performance to overcome world No. 14 Angus Ng of Hong Kong 21-18, 21-17 in the last 16.
Angus was the favourite as he had sent Lee Zii Jia packing in the first round on yesterday.
However, it was not always smooth sailing for Tze Yong during the match.
He called for a medical timeout for the tournament doctor to examine a blister on his feet in the second game.
The 23-year-old conceded a few points after he returned to court as Angus reduced the deficit to 18-17.
However, the Malaysian did not panic and sealed the game for a quarter-final spot.
"I felt no pressure during the match," said the confident Tze Yong after the match.
"I think the one month I spent just training in Kuala Lumpur has helped my game.
"I studied Angus' game when he defeated Zii Jia and came up with a strategy with my coaches today.
"I was slightly erratic in the second game because of the blister. I had a healthy lead, but Angus caught up.
"However, I did not panic and managed to win the match."
Tze Yong will take on former world champion Loh Kean Yew in the quarter-finals tomorrow. The Singapore shuttler booked his spot when he defeated China's Zhao Jun Peng 21-19, 17-21, 21-6.
Meanwhile, independent shuttler S. Kisona almost scored a famous victory over world No 1 Akane Yamaguchi in the second round of the women's singles event.
World No 66 Kisona defeated Akane 22-20 in the first game. However, the Japanese star bounced back to win the next two games, 21-14, 21-14, to reach the quarter-finals.
National women's doubles coach Hoon Thien How said he was pleased with the "hunger" shown by Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah despite their 21-17, 17-21, 21-19 loss to China's world No 1 Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan today.
"The performances from both players were good, considering that they didn't play in the last two tournaments after the Singapore Open (Pearly sustained an elbow injury)," said Thien How.
"Pearly and Thinaah took the lead in the first set, 15-8, and it showed their desire. They were quick to stop the opponents and managed to take the points.
"I hope they can learn from this defeat and prepare for the next tournament (Japan Open from July 25-30).
"I see that their recovery is okay in the two matches here...they just need to be more daring.
SELECTED RESULTS
Second round
Men's singles: Ng Tze Yong (Mas) bt Angus Ng (Hkg) 21-18, 21-17; Shi Yu Qi (Chi) bt Kento Momota 21-16,21-16; Loh Kean Yew (Sin) bt Zhao Jun Peng (Chi) 21-19, 17-21, 21-6; Anders Antonsen (Den) bt Chou Tien Chen (Tai) 21-13, 21-19; Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) bt Priyanshu Rajawat (Ind) 21-14, 18-21, 21-17.
Women's singles: Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn) bt S. Kisona (Mas) 20-22, 21-14, 21-14; Kim Ga Eun (Kor) bt He Bing Jiao (Chi) 21-9, 21-17; Chen Yu Fei (Chi) bt Pai Yu Po (Tai) 21-11, 21-12.
Doubles: Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan (Chi) bt Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah 21-17, 17-21, 21-19.
Mixed Doubles: Zheng Si Wei-Huang Ya Qiong (Chi) bt Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Ina) 21-16, 21-17; Jiang Zhen Bang-Wei Ya Xin (Chi) bt Song Hyun Cho-Lee Jung Hyun (Kor) 21-8, 21-18; Hiroki Midorikawa-Natsu Saito (Jpn) bt Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai (Mas) 21-17, 21-13; Dechapol Puavaranukroh-Sapsiree Taerattanachai (Tha) bt Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Mas) 21-9, 21-7.
