Chong Wei names future stars

Liew Daren has beaten world class shuttlers Lee Hyun Il and Simon Santoso.

LEE Chong Wei believes there is light at the end of the tunnel for Malaysian singles if the recent results of several back-up players are anything to go by.
The World No 1 has named four back-up players -- Liew Daren (World 24), Chan Kwong Beng (23), Chong Wei Feng (24), Arif Latif (22) -- who can become top internationals.

Chong Wei also pointed out that younger players like Goh Soon Huat and Misbun Ramdan Misbun are the ones in the feeder group who can make a strong impact.
Daren has already beaten world class shuttlers like Lee Hyun Il of South Korea and Simon Santoso of Indonesia while Chan Kwong Beng made a breakthrough in the Indonesia Open grand prix gold last month by toppling Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia to reach the quarter-finals.
Arif, 22, is the youngest among the four but have regularly beaten the trio on the local circuit. But so far, he hasn't been successful in transforming that form into the international scene.

Soon Huat, 21, and Ramdan, 20, did well to reach the final and semi-finals respectively before losing to Chong Wei in the National Grand Prix Finals at Juara Stadium which ended on on Saturday.
"Daren, Kwong Beng, Wei Feng and Arif are about the same level and if they can keep pushing for better results, they can become top international players.

"However, they cannot take too long and must establish themselves within the next 18 months if they want to have ful international success," said Chong Wei.

"Since I won't be playing in the National GP Finals next year, they should aim to win the title and take it as a confidence booster. I beat my seniors in 2003 for my first title and they were already world class players then and it gave me confidence and I started progressing fast.
"Every victory is a step forward and they cannot be satisfied for just being in the national team but must make their mark.

"Soon Huat and Ramdan are younger and they would take probably two years. Both have positive attitude and they have already started beating their seniors in the national squad and this competition is also healthy."

Chong Wei may have left out Asian junior champion Zulfadli Zulkifli because he was commenting on the players in the national squad. Nonetheless, Zulfadli should heed Chong Wei's advice and make a "faster breakthrough".
Courtesy of New Straits Times