Daren Liew’s dip in form can affect team’s performance in Thomas Cup Finals
Malaysia’s Men’s Singles elite player Daren Liew, who has been playing remarkable badminton in the opening months of current year, suddenly lost his form and if he does not improve in the upcoming days, it will not exercise a healthy effect on national team
in Thomas Cup Finals.
The World Number 32 Daren, who has been struggling hard to win a major tournament for the last couple of years, showed a gutsy performance in the starting tournaments of the year.
However, he failed to maintain his positive run at international stage and could not produce good results in the recent tournaments including Australian Open GP Gold, India Open Super Series and Malaysia Open GP Gold.
His quivering performance is a major concern for national coaches as he will be the main player of Thomas Cup squad and will play the second fight in Men’s Singles category after the top seed Lee Chong Wei.
His role will be quite important as his position in the competition will be very important and his success will keep team’s hopes alive to win the match.
Muhammad Hafiz Hashim will play in the third Men’s Singles contest but it will be on Daren to stretch the fight against top nations to give Hafiz a chance to win the battle in this team-event tournament.
Rashid Sidek, the national coach for Singles, said that Daren needs to find his rhythm before the start of Thomas Cup, which will kick off on May 20, in China.
He said, "Daren's form is a bit of a concern. He was progressing nicely but then failed in the last three tournaments. He must improve on his focus as he can make a difference in the Thomas Cup."
He further added, "It's not going to be easy for him as the second singles where he will meet top 10 players but it's a different ball game in a team event where lesser known players have beaten the big names. Even if he can't win, he must battle all the
way to show that he is a team player.”
If Daren delivers in the Thomas Cup, the chances will be high for Malaysian squad to reach into the semi-final of the tournament.
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