Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s former men’s singles coach Rashid Sidek told reporters that players from the Malaysian Badminton Association (BAM) should look up to Daren Liew as their motivation for producing good performance at the Asian Games that scheduled to be held from August 18 to September 2, 2018 in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang.
Sidek said compared to the independent player Liew, who needed to handle everything by himself, BAM players have easy access to coaches and training facilities and should have done better at international tournaments.
“Daren has proven that even though he is now playing professionally and arranging training and tournament all by himself, he was still able to create success for the country by winning bronze medal at the World Championships.”
“Therefore, BAM players have no excuses for not being able to produce the same result when they have all the support needed from BAM.”
“Although three other players who were listed in the Asian Games squad are still young, they can’t use lack of exposure as an excuse anymore. It’s time for them to prove their worth in the absence of Chong Wei,” added Rashid.
Liew was listed for the Asiad after winning a bronze medal in the World Championships in Nanjing, China two weeks ago.
Three other BAM men’s singles players who were named for the Asiad team including Lee Zii Jia, Leong Jun Hao and Soong Joo Ven. Both Liew and Lee will play in team and individual events.
Sidek who was also the head coach of Sports Affairs Badminton Academy indicated the difficulties Liew faced as a professional player has made him a more mature individual.
“It’s not easy when Daren decided to turn professional, as he sometimes has to spend his own money to play at tournament abroad.”
“If he is playing overseas, Daren will not be accompanied by a coach and he himself will have to think about the strategies and how he could defeat his opponents. All these things he had to do outside and inside the court have helped his growth to become a more mature player,” said Sidek who coached Liew since he was in BAM. Liew is currently trains at the Sports Affairs Badminton Academy.
