KUALA LUMPUR: National No. 2 Ng Tze Yong has vowed to improve further, with securing a ticket to the Paris Olympics as his ultimate goal for the upcoming year.
The 23-year-old's season concluded with a first-round defeat to compatriot Lee Zii Jia in the China Masters Super 750 on Wednesday, but he remains optimistic.
Tze Yong is convinced that he is moving in the right direction, having elevated his ranking from No. 28 at the beginning of the year to his current career-best of No. 14.
Out of his 21 appearances on the World Tour, Tze Yong reached no worse than the quarter-finals in nine tournaments.
He reached his first-ever final at the Arctic Open Super 500 but had to settle for the runner-up position to Zii Jia.
Other notable achievements include being a semi-finalist at the French Open Super 750 and the Hong Kong Open Super 500.
In the process, Tze Yong is well in contention to secure an Olympics debut, currently standing at No. 11 in the Race to Paris rankings at the halfway point of the one-year qualifying period.
"The year has gone quite well for me, but I haven't achieved my target yet, which is to qualify for the Olympics next year," said Tze Yong.
"I need to keep improving and work hard to maintain this position (in the top 16 to qualify)."
Despite feeling exhausted, Tze Yong has no intention of resting for too long, being aware that the season-opening Malaysia Open Super 1000 (Jan 9-14) is just six weeks away.
"The past six months have been tiring with so many back-to-back tournaments; I've hardly had time to train," said Tze Yong.
"I have just about one month to prepare for my next tournament, so I might not be going for a long holiday.
"I need more training hours. Training is very important for me. I want to focus on my fitness.
"The Malaysia Open will be very important for me. I managed to make it just to the second round, so I need to do better.
"With more training, the more confident I will become. The fitter I am, the more mentally strong I will be too."