KUALA LUMPUR: Amid the uncertainty surrounding Lee Zii Jia's participation in this month's Thomas Cup in Chengdu, China, there could be some positive news for the Malaysian badminton camp.
It is learnt that world No. 18 Ng Tze Yong may be fit and ready to make a comeback at the world team event on April 27-May 5.
BA of Malaysia (BAM) coaching director Rexy Mainaky said the 24-year-old men's singles player has been showing good progress in his recovery and moving better on the court.
For the record, Tze Yong has only played one full match this season after sustaining back and spinal injuries at the Malaysia Open in January and the Badminton Asia Team Championships in February.
Due to these unfortunate setbacks, the Johor-born was forced to skip all the European World Tour stops last month, as well as next week's Asian Championships in Ningbo, China.
Tze Yong has also dropped out of the Olympic qualifying race after failing to make the top-16 cut on the Race to Paris standings.
However, despite the heartbreak of missing out on the Paris Olympics, there is still a glimmer of hope for Tze Yong to make a return and inspire the rest of his teammates at the Thomas Cup.
"Tze Yong is moving better on court, although he is still cautious and isn't doing anything to risk aggravating his injury.
"I believe Tze Yong has a chance to make the Thomas Cup squad because there is still about a month to go before the tournament," Rexy said when met recently at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) in Bukit Kiara.
In 2022, when Zii Jia chose to sit out of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games to focus on his World Championships preparation, Tze Yong stepped in and inspired the Malaysian squad to reclaim the mixed team title, and even won a surprise individual silver.
The closing date to finalise the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup squads is April 13.
Separately, Rexy was also pleased to share that 20-year-old Justin Hoh successful returned to competitive action at the Thailand International Challenge last week after being sidelined for nearly half a year.
According to Rexy, Justin, who did not get past the early rounds in Korat, will need some time to regain his temperament of competing in high-intensity tournaments.
For the Thomas Cup, Malaysia are in Group D with European champions Denmark, Hong Kong, and Algeria.