Daren cruises to main draw
LIEW Daren is hoping for a repeat success story when he takes on fourth seed Viktor Axelsen in the opening round of the Malaysia Open today in Kuching.
Daren, a former BA of Malaysia (BAM) men’s singles shuttler, yesterday scored two wins in the qualifying round against Soo Teck Zhi (21-15, 21-10) and China’s Zhao Junpeng (17-21, 21-15, 21-18) to set up a date with the Danish World No 4, whom he defeated in the final of the 2012 French Open final.
“My target here was to reach the main draw and I have already achieved that,” said Daren who left the national body early last year.
“Beating Axelsen (tomorrow) would be a surprise but then again winning against the China player today is already a surprise as he was the Macau Open champion last year.
“Axelsen has definitely improved a lot since the last time I beat him in the final of the French Open five years ago. He won bronze at the Olympics last year but I will give my best and focus on one match at a time.”
On a separate note, Daren added that it is worrisome to see how poor some of the younger national players are performing, especially after seeing off Teck Zhi in straight games.
“I would have expected a tougher fight from him but I didn’t get it. I think the younger players really need to catch up. Players like Chong Wei Feng and I are probably going to be around for another year or two, so these guys must step up.
“I see them complaining a lot but there is no result. Get the results first and then speak up.”
Also through to today’s main draw are women’s singles Lim Yin Fun and mixed doubles duo Hoo Pang Ron-Peck Yen Wei.
Yin Fun, who had received a bye in the first match, was lucky in the second round when her Indonesian opponent Jesica Muljati retired due to an injury when she was trailing 21-10, 16-21, 16-11, while Pang Ron-Yen Wei saw off India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-K Maneesha 2119, 19-21, 21-14 in the first match before chalking up a 21-17, 15-21, 21-18 win over Indonesia’s Lukhi Apri Nugroho-Ririn Amelia.