Determined Daren stuns Srikanth to reach quarter-finals in world meet

NANJING: Independent shutter Liew Daren continued to prove that he can be counted on in the absence of Lee Chong Wei at the World Championships.

Focused from the start of the match, Daren pulled off an incredible show to stun world No. 5 K. Srikanth  of India 21-18, 21-18 to reach his first men’s singles quarter-finals at the world meet on Thursday.

He’ll face Kanta Tsuneyama of Japan, who ousted Brice Leverdez of France 21-17, 21-15 in the other third round clash. 

And the Malaysian has a good chance of reaching the semi-finals. If he makes it to the top four, he will play the winner of the match between Kento Momota of Japan and India’s B. Sai Praneeth.

“This is by far my best achievement as an independent shuttler, but I’m going to make it even better,” promised Daren.

The other men’s singles quarter-finals are between Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Chen Long of China and Shi Yuqi of China versus Chou Tien-chen of Taiwan. Five-time world champion Lin Dan of China lost 15-21,9-21 to Yuqi in the third round.