National Coach Rashid wants Daren Liew to carry his current form – Badminton News
The Malaysian singles shuttler Daren Liew has earned a great deal of admiration after making it into the quarter-finals of two consecutive European tournaments, All-England and the Swiss Open, but national coach Rashid Sidek wants him to carry his current
form.
The Men’s singles expert registered his presence in these prestigious events by displaying his court craft in Birmingham and then in Basel as well. He surged into top eight of the events.
Men’s singles national coach Rashid looked satisfied at his progress but he thinks Daren still has long way to cover before he reaches his final destination.
He said, “His confidence is high and he has been coping well with the physical aspects of the game but there is still much room for improvement.”
World Number 28 Daren alarmed the other higher ranked players in All England Open by beating superior players like Hsueh Hsuan Yi of Taiwan and the Thai shuttler Boonsak Ponsana but he was unable to continue his run and lost to Korean legend Lee Hyun Il
in the quarter-final.
In the next European event, Swiss Open, he also went down against the World Number five Chen Jin in the quarter-final match.
The 24-year-old shuttler has performed amazingly well in the past also but he always failed to stay consistent at international level.
Rashid though applauded his talent but the coach is also aware of the fact that Daren needs to find his feet to excel against the world class shuttlers.
He said, “He is a good player but he never had the self-belief to take on the top players. In the past, he would do well in one tournament but lose easily in the next and it affected his confidence.”
The Men’s singles expert Daren Liew is catching up at great pace as he has left the World Number 32 Hafiz Hashim behind in the rankings and the Coach tagged him as the second biggest hope in the Thomas Cup for country after the Malaysian maestro Lee Chong
Wei.
Rashid said, “In terms of rankings, it would be good if Daren moves up to the second singles as it’ll give us a better chance in the Thomas Cup Finals with the more experienced Hafiz at No. 3.”
Meanwhile, Daren is also scheduled to compete in the Axiata Cup, starting from March 23, before participating in the Australian Open in April.
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