KUALA LUMPUR: Liew Daren will face Asian champion Kento Momota of Japan in the men’s singles semi-finals of the World Championships in Nanjing on Saturday.
World No 39 Daren edged Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama 22-20, 21-23, 22-20 while World No 7 Momota recorded an easy 21-12, 21-12 win over B. Sai Praneeth of India in the quarter-finals.
“I hope I can recover from my foot problem ahead of the semi-finals. I will analyse Momota’s game and come up with strategies for this encounter.
“It is my first world meet semi-final appearance and I will do my best tomorrow (Saturday),” said Daren, who is a professional player.
Momota is the favourite having won the Asian Championships and Indonesia Open this year.
In will be an all-China battle in the other semi-final between third seed Shi Yuqi and reigning Olympic champion Chen Long.
In the men’s doubles, World No 35 Aaron Chia-Soh Wook Yik were ousted in the quarter-finals by fourth seeds Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen of China. The Malaysians lost 21-14, 24-22 in 40 minutes.