KUALA LUMPUR: The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury sustained by national men’s singles shuttler Ng Tze Yong may well see him struggle to regain his old form, said former world number one Roslin Hashim.
The ex-national shuttler also admitted that even before the ACL injury, Tze Yong’s performances of late had been quite shaky since returning to action in April following a back injury.
“When Tze Yong sustained the lower back injury previously, he had to undergo surgery... now he has got an ACL injury (knee). These two lower parts of the body are extremely crucial to a shuttler.
“When he came back to action (after his lower back injury), his performance wasn’t that stable either. At an age where he should be reaching his peak powers but, unfortunately, he has suffered another serious injury and his recovery this time will take a long time. So, it will be difficult for Tze Yong to regain his old form,” he told Bernama.
The Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) confirmed in a statement yesterday that Tze Yong suffered an ACL injury, with the 25-year-old shuttler also admitting to finding it hard to accept this latest injury blow after all the efforts he had put in to get back to action.
BAM singles coaching director Kenneth Jonassen said Tze Yong, who may be sidelined for nine to 12 months, is currently undergoing prehabilitation (prehab) to strengthen the knee and the surrounding muscles ahead of the scheduled surgery for the ACL injury he sustained at the 2025 Malaysia Masters last month.
Tze Yong has suffered various injuries, including a muscle tear in his back followed by a spinal injury since last year and underwent a long period of rest and rehabilitation before returning to action in the Badminton Asia Championship 2025 in Ningbo, China, in April.
Despite his bleak assessment of Tze Yong’s situation, Roslin, however, hopes the 2022 Commonwealth Games men’s singles silver medallist possesses a burning desire and determination to fight back from adversity.
“I sympathise with Tze Yong, I hope he remains strong. If he intends to get back on the court, he will need every ounce of his inner strength and remain steadfast in facing this latest setback,” he said.
Roslin, winner of the men’s singles gold medal at the 2001 SEA Games, said the absence of the Johor-born Tze Yong, ranked 199 in the world, has also been a huge loss for the national camp.
He admitted that Tze Yong is a player with huge potential, having once risen to as high as 14th in the world, and has the qualities required to be one of the world’s top shuttlers.
“It’s like we have lost a truly good player. We could see his potential as he won silver at the 2022 Commonwealth Games... unfortunately, injuries have curtailed his progress,” he said.
