IT'S too good to be true but Liew Daren is relishing his lucky streak
of late and will be going for a few more breakthroughs, which were
deemed to be impossible by his standards, over the next two weeks.Daren has already achieved one of his long term goals which was to win a super series title when he secured the French Open crown and he is now in a fighting position to break into the top 12 of the world ranking and also become only the third Malaysian after Lee Chong Wei and Wong Choong Hann to qualify for the World Super Series Finals in Shenzhen on Dec 12-16.
Only the top eight players in the super series standings will make the cut for the the final rounds in Shenzhen.
But Daren, who currently lies sixth, is not assured of his place.
Daren will undergo a tough task in the China Open beginning on Tuesday where he needs to reach at least the semi-finals and also overcome a difficult draw in the Hong Kong Open on Dec 20-25 to earn a quarter-final berth to join Chong Wei in the World Super Series Finals.
Lengthy breaks taken by Olympic champion Lin Dan of China, Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark, Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia have left the race for the super series finals wide open.
"If you had asked me a couple of months ago, I wouldn't be talking about a top 15 position in the world ranking or the super series finals.
"The French Open has changed all that. Because of that success, I am in with a chance to end the year on a high," said Daren.
"In China, I need to beat Ajay Jayram (India), Jan Jorgensen (Denmark) and Chen Jin (China) to reach the semis.
"The Hong Kong Open is even more difficult as I will need to beat Dionisius Hayom Rumbaka (Indonesia) and Chen Long (China) to make the last eight.
"Dionisius is a tough opponent while I don't think I have come to the level of beating Chen Long yet.
"However, I will be able to give Chen Long a tough battle and can pull him to three games the least.
"If I get past the quarter-final stage in both tournaments, I can make the super series finals and also probably achieve a career high world ranking where I may go as high as No 12.
"Even if I don't manage to achieve those objectives, I would give my best shot and set the tone for a more successful outing on the international stage next year."
Daren will be battling against four others -- Indonesia's Simon Santoso (7th), Japan's Sho Sasaki (8th), Jorgensen (9th) and Chen Long (10th) -- for the remaining three slots for the World Super Series Finals, and the shuttlers will be in action in the China and Hong Kong Opens.
Chong Wei, Hong Kong's Hu Yun, Japan's Kenichi Tago, China's Du Pengyu and Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana look solid to claim the first five qualifying positions in the tournament.
The World Super Series Finals offer a total prize money of US$500,000 (RM1.52 million) where the men's singles champion takes home US$40,000 (RM122,000) while the qualifiers are assured of a minimum of US$3,000 (RM9,000).
Courtesy of New Straits Times
No comments:
Post a Comment