KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s current No 1 men’s singles player, Liew Daren is hoping that the Sports Ministry and the National Sports Council (NSC) will be fair when it comes to aid and assistance for professional players.
He said that if the Sports Ministry and NSC decide to help national men’s doubles, Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong as well as mixed doubles Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying for preparations to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, then they must also provide similarly for other professional players as well.
This is because all the other professional players have the potential to qualify for the Olympics next year.
V Shem-Wee Kiong and Peng Soon-Liu Ying, who won silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, decided on leaving the BA of Malaysia (BAM) only last month in order to become professional players instead.
"If we are talking about being fair, for sure the Sports Ministry and the NSC must help all the professional players because there are those who have the potential to qualify for the Olympics. However, it all depends on them.
"I am unsure of what the criteria will be when it comes to such a matter. Perhaps V Shem-Wee Kiong and Peng Soon-Liu Ying are Olympic medallists, so perhaps this is why they should be helped.
“Whatever the decision, I will abide by it, but I just hope that they will be fair to all the professional players,” stressed Daren who has not received any form of assistance from the Sports Ministry or NSC since he turned professional in 2016.
Before this, the Sports Ministry and the NSC stated that they will still help V Shem-Wee Kiong and Peng Soon-Liu Ying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.
However, Daren is among the crop of professional players who should be helped because of his current status as Malaysia’s No 1 men’s singles player based on the latest Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings.
Daren, who won bronze at the World Championships last year, is currently ranked World No 23, followed by Lee Chong Wei (28).
Chong Wei dropped down in the World rankings after being out of action for an extended period following his battle with nose cancer, and he is currently in the process of making a return to action.
Speaking further, Daren said that if he does not get any form of help from the Sports Ministry or NSC, he will still go ahead with his plans as usual, especially on realising his mission of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time in his career.
"Of course I welcome any form of help from them if they want to extend a helping hand, because it is not easy being a professional player. However, if not then I will still focus on continuing with my mission of qualifying for the Olympics.
“After two years of being a professional player, I am used to it. So I will just keep on working very hard to ensure that I am able to realise my mission,” said Daren who is training at the Sports Affairs Badminton Academy under coach Rashid Sidek.