SEA Games: Daren Liew tames Zi Liang Derek Wong in the team event semi-final – Badminton news
Malaysia’s in-form shuttler Daren Liew has proved his elevated skill as he tamed Singapore’s Zi Liang Derek Wong in the team event semi-final of the South East Asian (SEA) Games, at Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday, November 13.
Daren, who has attained 47th position in the Men’s Singles world rankings, played stunning badminton against the World Number 42nd Liang Derek, who failed to match the class of the Malaysian throughout the match. Daren toppled the Singaporean
in straight games with a wonderful ease by finishing it up with an impressive score.
The lower ranked Malaysian opened his campaign against Liang Derek in an aggressive manner. He played fast badminton by finishing the rallies in a flash to establish his supremacy in the game. He was completely in control of the game by dictating the pace
of the rallies and kept his opponent working hard in returning the bird from the side lines of the court.
Daren remained ahead of the Singaporean, who was trying to match the speed of the rallies but failed to control the bird in the opening game. The planned and aggressive game of the Malaysian put pressure on his opponent in the first set. The Malaysian played
with great confidence and won the opening game with a reasonable difference of 21-17.
In the following set, Liang Derek played aggressive game from the start and remained in good control of the rallies. It seemed that he found his momentum as the score remained quite close until the interval when Daren was slightly ahead of the Singaporean
by reaching at 11-9.
However, after the break, the Malaysian injected more power and speed in his strokes to push his opponent on the back foot. He played wonderful badminton throughout the second half of the second set and also maintained pressure on his rival. He spared on
chance for the Singaporean at any stage of the second set to fight back in the game.
Daren won the second game in a scintillating fashion with a margin of 21-18. He won the opening fight of the team event semi-final with a margin 21-17 and 21-18 margin on the score board.
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