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https://scmp.com/sport/article/1936185/hong-kongs-ng-ka-long-beats-world-no-1-chen-long-singapore-open Sport
Hong Kong’s Ng Ka-long beats badminton world No 1 Chen Long in Singapore Open
The quarter-final victory puts the world number 14 on track to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games
Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long celebrates after beating China’s Chen Long in the Singapore Open quarter-finals. Photo: Xinhua
Angus Ng Ka-long moved a giant step towards securing an Olympic berth after stunning China’s world number one Chen Long in the Singapore Open – the last superseries tournament before the qualification process closes at the end of the month.
The 21-year-old, a former world junior champion in the boy’s doubles, took a straights-game 21-14, 21-18 victory in the quarter-final tie against one of the best players in the world. Ng meets Son Wan-ho, of South Korea, in the semis on Saturday.
Ng was trailing 14-7 in the second game but the youngster came back strongly by winning 10 points in a row and never looked back to take his second major scalp after beating two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan at the Hong Kong Open in November.
“He will certainly gain precious ranking points leading towards the Olympic qualification for this result,” said head coach Tim He Yiming. “But more importantly, the victory over a top player such as Chen, coupled with his win over Lin Dan, will give a young player like him a lot of confidence for the Olympic Games and beyond.”
Ng is 14th in the qualification rankings and should be able move up to 10th or 11th after the Singapore tournament. The world’s top 16 will book their tickets to the Rio Games with a quota of two players for each nation.
Ng Ka-long in action against Chen Long. Photo: AFP
Two other Hong Kong men’s singles player – Hu Yun and Wei Nan who are 13th and 17th respectively – are also chasing Rio Olympic tickets.
The coach said Ng is showing tremendous potential but needed more international exposure to establish himself as a top player.
China’s Chen Long was unable to counter Ng Ka-long’s speedy attacks. Photo: Xinhua
“But young players also have an advantage in that they fear nobody and always attack with great speed regardless of who their opponents are. This is probably how Ng has beaten both Lin Dan and Chen Long.”