KUALA LUMPUR, June 28 ― Veteran singles shuttler Liew Daren has yet again failed to progress beyond the first round of the Malaysian Open badminton championship today after losing to Indian player Prannoy HS.

Daren’s exit marks the ninth consecutive year he has failed to make it into the second round. His last second-round appearance was in 2013, when he defeated Ajay Jayaram of India, 21-15, 21-11.

Today, however, Daren started off his match on the wrong foot, as he lost 14-21 in the first game.

The Kuala Lumpur-born player then managed to mount a successful comeback, winning the next game 21-17.

Unfortunately, he failed to keep up the momentum in the decider, losing 17-21, and ended up being sent home by Prannoy.

After the match, Daren admitted that his eagerness to kill off the game had taken a toll on him, and probably was what let him down in the rubber set against Prannoy.

Meanwhile, 2021 world championship bronze medallists, Ong Yew Sin-Teo Ee Yi showed proved fellow compatriots, Arif Wan Junaidi-Muhammad Haikal Nazri, why they were one of Malaysia’s best men’s doubles pairs, beating them 21-19, 21-13.

Yew Sin, when met after the match, was quick to heap praise on his juniors, especially on how they performed in the first game, and believed that they had potential to go far in the future.

2020 Tokyo Olympic Games champions, Lee Yang-Wang Chi-Lin will take on the Malaysians next after the Taiwanese pair defeated Dutch duo Ruben Jille-Ties Van Der Lecq, 21-9, 21-15.

2022 German Open champions, Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani also went through to the second round after they delivered a top-notch performance, brushing aside the challenge from Japanese pair Keiichiro Matsui Yoshinori Takeuchi, 21-12, 21-12.

Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin will take on seventh seeds, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty after the Indian pair saw off another Malaysian pair Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun, 21-18, 21-11.

National women’s doubles pair, Low Yeen Yuan-Valeree Siow, also did not disappoint, although they needed a rubber to triumph over Germans Linda Efler-Isabel Lohau, 17-21, 21-16, 21-19.

A tricky journey lies ahead for the unseeded Yeen Yuan-Valeree as they are set to meet top seeds Chen Qing Chen-Jia Yi Fan of China in the second round.

The Chinese pair had earlier emerged victorious over Thailand’s Benyapa Aimsaard-Nuntakarn Aimsaard, beating them 21-7, 21-18.

However, Valeree vowed to mount a stiff challenge against Qing Chen-Yi Fan when they square off in the court.

The 2022 Malaysia Open continues tomorrow. — Bernama