Liew Daren banking on experience for BAM internal meet

Going up against much younger opponents at the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) Invitational Championships beginning Wednesday, Liew Daren is planning to use his experience as a trump card.

The 33-year-old needs to be at his best against shuttlers who are mostly a decade younger than him.

His experience will be his biggest weapon when the round-robin tournament involving eight players begins.

“I haven’t competed competitively for a long time, so I am not sure where my level is at this point. Plus there are two matches played in a day, so that is a disadvantage to me fitness wise.

“But I have experience on my side and that is something I will need to bring out during key moments in the match. I think the competition is quite balanced, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out,” Liew told Stadium Astro.

After an injury plagued 2019, things are looking up for the independent shuttler, who signed a two-year deal with badminton manufacturer Kumpoo in May.

The 2018 world championships medalist is also enjoying his time at the Academy Badminton Malaysia since being invited to train with the national team, and sparring with his new teammates has given him more quality sessions.

At 41st, he is the second highest ranked shuttler in the field behind Lee Zii Jia (10th).

The next shuttler behind him is Soong Joo Ven (67th) and Cheam June Wei (74th), while he rest – comprising of Ng Tze Yong, Aidil Sholeh, Leong Jun Hao and Lim Chong King – are all outside the top 100.

Liew's last tournament was the Spain Masters in February, where he lost to eventual champion Viktor Axelsen in the semi-finals.

For this internal meet, the soft spoken shuttler is not setting any lofty targets.

“At this point, I just want to regain the tournament feel more than anything else. That, and staying injury-free," he added.