Coronavirus: Hong Kong badminton star Angus Ng stuck in Switzerland after positive Covid-19 test, hopes to get home soon
- Ng withdrew from last week’s Swiss Open after testing positive for the coronavirus and needs a negative test before he can leave the country
- Hong Kong team will take a break from world tour and be back in action in June, as will mixed doubles pair Tse Ying-suet and Tang Chun-man
Angus Ng Ka-long is still stranded in Switzerland after contracting Covid-19, but is hoping to be able to return to Hong Kong soon and start preparing for his next tournament in June.
The city’s top badminton player was forced to withdraw from last week’s Swiss Open in Basel after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Ng is believed to have contracted the virus while competing in the All England Open the previous week in Birmingham, where he lost to Lu Guangzu of China in the second round.
“He still suffers from a sore throat and other than that, there is no major symptom,” Tim He Yiming, the Hong Kong head coach, said. “But he needs a negative testing result before he can leave the country hopefully he can make it soon.
“We had plans to stay in Switzerland for 14 days because [the Hong Kong] government’s travel restrictions required a person to stay in another country for two weeks after staying in Great Britain before returning to Hong Kong.
“The restriction will be changed after April 1, but Ng still needs to clear his testing result.”
Badminton star Angus Ng out of Swiss Open after positive Covid-19 test
The 27-year-old, like many other Hong Kong Sports Institute based elite athletes, had completed three jabs of Covid-19 vaccine before travelling overseas for competitions.
Hong Kong’s badminton squad left the city in early February for the Asian Team Championships in Malaysia, before heading to Europe where they split into two groups.
Ng and Lee Cheuk-yiu took part in three major tournaments on the main tour, while the rest featured in competitions for players with lower world rankings.
Struggling Hong Kong pair Ng and Lee face tough starts at All England Open
While the coach was delighted with the performance of the second string team, with Yeung Pui-lam and Yeung Nga-ting snatching two women’s doubles titles at events in Portugal and Poland, Ng and Lee Cheuk-yiu’s results were less than impressive.
“Ng and Lee had to travel overseas for different tournaments and it seems that the lack of proper training has hampered their performance,” He coach.
“We have decided not to take part in the world tour in the next two months so that the players can focus on training again. Hopefully it can work better for them.”
Hong Kong’s next target will be the Indonesia Masters in June, followed by a series of tournaments in Southeast Asia, including the Super 1000 Indonesia Open, the Super 750 Malaysia Open and the Singapore Open.
Hong Kong’s mixed doubles pair of Tse Ying-suet and Tang Chun-man will also be back in action, hoping to improve their world rankings ahead of the Asian Games in September.
Tse, who is now 30, needed to take sufficient rest after a busy 2021, the coach said, a year which saw the top pair finish fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and reach the semi-finals at both the World Tour finals in Indonesia and World Championships in Spain. They also reached the final of the Indonesia Masters.
