Daren hangs up racquet to focus on guiding Zii Jia

PETALING JAYA: Independent men’s singles shuttler Liew Daren has decided to call it a day and fully focus on his role in guiding Lee Zii Jia for now.

Daren had been juggling the dual role of player and Zii Jia’s coach since the beginning of the year and has now decided to hang up his racquet.

The 35-year-old confirmed his retirement but did not elaborate on his plans as he wants to concentrate on guiding Zii Jia in the ongoing Asian Championships in Dubai first.

“I can confirm that I am retiring,” said Daren, shortly.

“But for now, I have no further comments as I’m currently in Dubai.”

Daren had been battling injuries for the past year and had raised speculation that he might retire soon after withdrawing from his second round match against eventual winner, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen in the Malaysian Open in January after suffering a calf injury.

But Daren soldiered on but suffered first round exits in all his tournaments since then – the Indian Open, German Open, All-England and Swiss Open.

The 35-year-old had seen his ranking slip to No. 34 due to his lack of results and had missed out on qualifying for the Asian meet.

The last time Daren managed to get past the early rounds in a tournament was in the Thailand Open last May where he reached the semi-finals before losing in three games to Zii Jia, who went on to win the title.

Daren’s best achievement throughout his career was capturing a bronze medal in the 2018 World Championships in Nanjing, China.

He also won the French Open title in 2012 after beating Axelsen in the final.

Daren was also part of the team that finished runners-up to Japan in the 2014 Thomas Cup in New Delhi, India.

With the tie locked at 2-2, Daren had went down fighting 12-21, 21-18, 17-21 to Takuma Ueda in a pulsating fifth and decisive match.