Malaysia Masters: Angus Ng reaches first semi-final in 18 months with win over Chou Tien-Chen
- Hong Kong No 1 stuns Taiwanese fourth seed in three games, setting up clash with H.S. Prannoy in Kuala Lumpur
- Women’s top seed Akane Yamaguchi bows out after losing to unseeded Indonesian Gregoria Mariska Tunjung
Angus Ng Ka-long reached his first semi-final in 18 months after a battling victory over Chou Tien-Chen of Taiwan at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.
The Hong Kong No 1 – the city’s last remaining hope in the US$360,000 tournament – had to dig deep and come from behind in a tough quarter-final, winning 13-21, 21-12, 21-13 in just over an hour.
Ng will now take on H.S. Prannoy after the Indian beat Kenta Tsuneyama of Japan in two games, 25-23, 22-20.
After dropping out of the world’s top 10 in late March, Friday’s win could mean a lot for Ng, according to head coach Tim He Yiming.
“The victory should ease a lot of pressure, as this is the first time he has reached a last-four spot in a long time,” said He. “We hope he can capitalise on the good result and continue to move on. We also have to thank the new coach [Wong Tat Meng] who has given much advice to Ng.
“Ng did a very good job with his neat defence, allowing the opponent little chance in attack. And once Chou had to exchange in the rallies, Ng easily took advantage.”
With an 11-7 head-to-head lead, Chou started the match with great confidence and easily took a quick-fire first game.
But Ng was not discouraged, settling in well and improving his defence to give Chou little chance. Ng was in total control in the second and third games, and went on to seal the victory comfortably.
In the women’s singles, top seed Akane Yamaguchi of Japan was eliminated after losing to Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia in three games, 25-23, 15-21, 21-10.
But second seed Tai Tzu-Ying of Taiwan battled into the semi-finals with a 21-13, 12-21, 21-12 victory over India No 1 Pusarla V Sindhu, the seventh seed.
Another pre-tournament favourite, Chen Yufei, also reached the last four, defeating Nozomi Okuhara of Japan in two close games, 21-18, 22-20.
Chen will now meet Tai while unseeded Tunjung will hope to continue her fairy-tale run against third seed An Se-young of South Korea, who secured a 13-21, 21-13, 21-12 victory over Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand – the champion of last week’s Malaysia Open.
