- Angus Ng comprehensively beaten by Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi in just 37 minutes in Bangkok
- Tournament Hongkonger’s fourth since mid-January, with Ng facing several more before wedding in March
Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long’s wait for another title goes on, after he was comprehensively beaten in the final of the Thailand Masters by a player almost 20 spots below him in the world rankings.
Taiwan’s Lin Chun-yi took just 37 minutes to beat the defending champion 21-17, 21-14 in Bangkok on Sunday.
Still, after finishing third at the Indonesian Masters the previous week, Ng, the world No 18, managed to go one better, and attributed his performance to the support he received from his coach, Wong Tat Meng, and fiancee Charlotte.
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The pair’s wedding is scheduled for next month, and Ng said it was only his fiancee’s unconditional support that had allowed him to concentrate on the court for the past few weeks.
Ng has played in four tournaments since mid-January, with first round exits in Malaysia and India followed by the better displays of the past two weeks.
“I have to thank my fiancee,” he said. “Because of her understanding of the nature of my career and her help in preparing for the wedding, I was able to compete overseas without any worries.”
Ng, who again looked short of full fitness, also said Tat Meng’s influence was beginning to have an impact.
“The main thing is that I trained well in Hong Kong for nearly two months at the end of last year, and when I suffered early exits in the first two tournaments [in 2023], we tried to find the flaws and fix them on time, ensuring that the same mistakes did not happen again,” Ng said.
Ng has three more tournaments before his wedding on March 26, including the Asia Mixed Team Championships in Dubai, the German Open, and the All England Open Championships.
“I’m quite pleased with Ka-long’s performance, but his physical side suffered significantly, which cost him the loss,” Tat Meng said. “Competing four stops in a row is a challenge for a 28-year-old athlete, and he handled it quite well. It will help him a lot in the coming events.”
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
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