Liew Daren (born 6 August 1987) is a Malaysian badminton coach and former player. He has served the coach of Olympic bronze medalist Lee Zii Jia since 2025. As a player, his biggest success throughout his career is having won the 2012 French Open Super Series. He reached a career high ranking of World No.10. He also represented Malaysia competed at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
Early life Liew was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was educated at the Taman Midah Primary School. He began playing badminton at the age of seven. His brother was once a national badminton player. Liew started to play badminton professionally in 1998.
Career During the 2012 Thomas Cup quarter-final, he was defeated by Lin Dan from China, but not before he brought it into a rubber game of 21–17, 9–21 and 5–21. His best performance was during the Yonex French Open, where he won his first Super Series title on 28 October 2012 after beating Viktor Axelsen from Denmark with the scores of 21–18 and 21–17.
The 2014 Thomas Cup finals saw Liew facing off against Takuma Ueda from Japan in a gripping battle to break the tie between Malaysia and Japan, who were even at 2–2 as they entered the decisive third Men's Singles match. Liew lost to Ueda after the match went into a rubber game, scoring 21–12, 18–21 and 21–17.
In March 2022, Liew was appointed as Lee Zii Jia's assistant coach. Since January 2023, Liew has been carrying on his duty as Lee's part-time coach following the departure of Lee's coach, Indra Wijaya in November 2022.
On 26 April 2023, Liew confirmed his retirement from professional badminton and would pay attention in coaching Lee Zii Jia.
On 20 December 2024, Liew was given a 12-month suspension from all badminton-related activities by BWF for betting and match-fixing.
On 30 December 2025, coach Yeoh Kay Bin departed from Team Lee Zii Jia (LZJ) after a challenging 2025 season marked by Lee's injuries and limited competitiveness, Liew then returned as a coach after completing the suspension ended on 20 December 2025, making Liew the chosen replacement to fill the coaching vacancy.
Achievements
BWF World Championships Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2018 Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park, Nanjing, China Kento Momota 16–21, 5–21 Bronze
BWF Superseries (1 title) The BWF Superseries, launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the Superseries Finals held at the year end.
Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2012 French Open Viktor Axelsen 21–18, 21–17 Winner BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries tournament
BWF Grand Prix (2 runners-up) The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.
Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2016 Korea Masters Son Wan-ho 13–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2016 Chinese Taipei Masters Sourabh Varma 10–12, 10–12, 3–3 Retired Runner-up BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series (2 titles) Men's singles Year Tournament Opponent Score Result 2015 Polish Open Emil Holst 21–15, 21–11 Winner 2005 Chinese Taipei Satellite Erwin Djohan Winner BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament
References
External links Profile at Badminton Association of Malaysia