DESPITE coming so close to clinching his second international title this year, national men's singles Ng Tze Yong had to settle for second best at the Czech Open yesterday.
The 21-year-old Polish Open champion, who had been enjoying a good run in form recently, fought tooth and nail before succumbing to a 16-21, 21-16, 27-25 defeat in the hands of local shuttler Jan Louda in Brno.
The defeat is Tze Yong's second this year, following his nail-biting encounter with 2018 Asian Games champion Jonatan Christie of Indonesia in the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup in Denmark a fortnight ago.
Touted to be the next big thing in Malaysian men's singles, the Kuala Lumpur-born is surely making an impression.
Not to mention, Tze Yong has also taken his chances exceptionally well, especially when his more fancied elite teammates struggle to cope with the demands of top-level badminton.
Tze Yong, who defeated the likes of Cheam June Wei and Leong Jun Hao to secure the top spot at the BA of Malaysia (BAM) internal ranking last month, will travel to Leuven next for the Belgian International that starts on Wednesday.
He will face Denmark's Viktor Svendsen in the opening round.
Meanwhile, Siti Nurshuhaini Azman can also take heart from her brave run in Brno despite going down 21-16, 21-5 to eighth seed Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in the women's singles final.
Siti along with several other junior shuttlers are being monitored closely by BAM and will be fast-tracked to add more depth and youth to the national squad.
The 17-year-old, who was making her International Series debut, was also a member of the recent Uber Cup squad in Aarhus.
Men's singles: Jan Louda (Cze) bt Ng Tze Yong 16-21, 21-16, 27-25;
Women's singles: Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Siti Nurshuhaini Azman (Mas) 21-16, 21-5;
Doubles: Anna Cheong-Teoh Mei Xing (Mas) bt Febby Valencia Dwijayanti Gani-Jesita Putri Miantoro (Ina) 21-15, 16-21, 21-17;
Mixed doubles: Terry Hee-Tan Wei Han (Sin) bt Lev Barinov-Anastasiia Boairun (Rus) 21-18, 21-12.