Foul!

No Lin Dan. No Chen Jin. Only Korea Open losing finalist Du Pengyu is the top most shuttler to feature for China in the Malaysia Open which starts today. World No 1 Lee Chong Wei should have minimal problems netting his ninth title this time around. Liew Daren, meanwhile, has been given a second chance to redeem himself after the BA of Malaysia (BAM) agreed to field him for this year's competition. A whole lot of Malaysian players will see action in the qualifiers today but it remains to be seen if any of them will make the cut in the main draw. And would this year's Malaysia Open be like any other - a predictable script with expected results? Let's hope for some twist in the story line as the tournament progresses. HD says: All the best to the Malaysian contingent.  

Congratulations to national shuttler Liew Daren ( pic from BWF ) who finally netted his first international at the French Open over the weekend. Daren defeated Danish player Viktor Axelsen 21-18, 21-17 in the men's singles final. So what is next for Daren? To immediately expect Daren to fill the shoes of top national player Lee Chong Wei is somewhat foolish. After all, this is only the beginning and consistency is key. Nevertheless, NST's Ajitpal Singh had this to say; Although none of the top five ranked shuttlers were in Paris, Daren's achievement should not be written off as a fluke as he did beat several other established players for the title. Read his full article here . True and it is only fair for the stakeholders and fans to motivate him further to gun more honours. After all, Peter Gade's retirement not too long ago may ignite a domino effect among the other 'aging' stars including Taufik Hidayat, Chong Wei, Lin Dan. With their absenc...

Chan Kwong Beng, Liew Daren ( pic ), Chong Wei Feng, Arif Abdul Latif and Misbun Ramdan. Those were the five singles shutters who two time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei believes have the potential of being top players, as reported here . Surprisingly, former World Junior and Asian Junior champion Zulfadli Zulkifli's name is missing from the list. Some may argue Chong Wei's five stars have lost their shine a long time ago.But those who stand by them argue these players should have been given more exposure but were constantly forced to hide behind the shadows of Chong Wei. Hopefully those within the list will be able to prove their critics wrong and be champions in their own right. To find another Chong Wei is difficult but it's about trying to bridge the gap between the top shuttler and those around him. And let's also ensure the younger set of players are not left behind and given the same kind of exposure and treatment and the opportunity to play mor...

Are we kidding ourselves with our Thomas Cup ambition? Liew Daren ( pic ) claims he is all fired up to make a cut in the final . But world No 1 Lee Chong Wei seems to be more realistic by saying the Thomas Cup squad may struggle to even qualify. The fact remains Hafiz Hashim is the next best Malaysian singles player at Number 34 in the world standings while Wong Choong Hann is ranked 50. I doubt positive thinking alone will not help the Thomas Cup squad qualify. HD says: Oh well...