Angus Ng falls short in Malaysia Masters final, looks ahead to Singapore Open
- Dwi Wardoyo, who defeated Lee Cheuk-yiu in round one of the tournament, was firmly in control and never gave Ng a chance to come back
- The Hong Kong team now looks ahead to next week’s Singapore Open, where Ng will meet Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the first round
Angus Ng Ka-long fell short in his first final in 18 months after losing to Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo of Indonesia at the Malaysia Masters in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday.
After dropping out of the world’s top 10 in late March, Ng looked to have regained some of his best form in the US$360,000 tournament as he went all the way through until the last hurdle when he lost in straight games 22-20, 21-15 in 45 minutes.
The first game was crucial as Ng had every chance to draw first blood, but he was caught by Dwi Wardoyo in the final stages after leading 17-15 and 19-18 respectively and narrowly lost after deuce.
Fuelled by the success, Dwi Wardoyo, who also defeated Hong Kong’s Lee Cheuk-yiu in the first round of the tournament, was firmly in control of the second game and never gave Ng any chance to come back.
The Indonesian quickly built a 17-11 lead before extending his advantage to 20-12 and Ng struggled to save the match. It would have been Ng’s first title since winning the Thailand Masters in 2020.
Despite the defeat, head coach Tim He Yiming was delighted to see his charge showing glimpse of his skills that once earned him a world number six ranking.
Angus Ng targets first trophy in 2 years at Malaysian Masters, eyes world top 1o
“The most important thing is that Ng should have his confidence back after this tournament,” He said.
“He has been playing under a lot of pressure after a series of disappointing results since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
“His skill is still there but he needs a good result to help him break the psychological barrier, to prove he is still competitive at the highest level. Now we can have the ground that Ng can set foot to challenge the world tour again.
“We will work with his new coach (Wong Tat Meng) who has been given a lot of advice during these last couple of tournaments and the understanding between the two has been getting better and better.
“We won’t ask for Ng to make a big progress in his game as this is impossible at his age, but some minor adjustments of his skills and psychological state to make him more a steady player, more consistent in the highest level. This should be good enough for him to compete against the world’s best.”
Malaysia Masters: Angus Ng reaches first semi-final in 18 months
Ng and his teammates, Lee Cheuk-yiu and two mixed doubles pairs, will now cross the border for next week’s Singapore Open. Ng will meet Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand in the first round while Lee has a tougher match against Rasmus Gemke of Denmark.
In the mixed doubles, Tang Chun-man and Tse Ying-suet should have little difficulties against Adham Hatem Elgamal and Doha Hany of Egypt while Lee Chun-hei and Ng Tsz-yau will need to start in the qualifiers against a pair from the hosts.
Two women’s doubles pairs will also feature in the main draw in Yeung Nga-ting / Yeung Pui-lam and Yoyo Ng Tsz-Yau /Tsang Hiu-yan.
In the women’s singles final, South Korea’s An Se-young stunned Olympic champion Chen Yufei of China after capturing the title with a 21-17, 21-5 victory.
