KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian men’s singles professional player Liew Daren achieved the most significant result of his 14 year career thus far when he pulled out all the stops to advance to his first semi-final at the World Championships in Nanjing, China earlier today (Friday).
The World No 39 ranked player reached the semi-finals after giving it his all to overcome young Japanese Kanta Tsuneyama, 22-20, 21-23, 22-20 at the Nanjing Olympic Sports Center.
It is an extraordinary achievement for Daren as he had to play through the pain barrier in the second game after falling on the court when he slipped while returning a shot to Tsuneyama, which resulted in him having to receive treatment for his ankle on the sidelines of the court from the championship doctor before the match could be resumed.
Daren has never managed to make it this far in the World Championships even when he was with the BA of Malaysia (BAM) for 12 years before he left in early 2016 to become a professional following a drop in form.
The 31 year old’s best achievement was while he was still attached with BAM when he emerged as the French Open champion back in 2012, and apart from this was his run to the third round of the 2013 World Championships in Guangzhou, China.
What’s most important is Daren’s latest feat ensures that the Malaysian flag still flies in the championships and it will definitely make national men’s singles No 1, Lee Chong Wei very proud as he could not compete this time round, having to pull out of the championships and the upcoming Asian Games because of health problems.
However Daren will have to keep the momentum going and make sure he brings his best game to court for tomorrow’s (Saturday) semi-final where he will have to take on sixth seed Kento Momota of Japan or B Sai Praneeth of India.