LIEW Daren is likely to replace the injured Lee Chong Wei in the men's singles badminton competition in Laos.
Chong Wei, citing injury, withdrew from the Sea Games squad after winning the recent Super Series Masters Final in Johor Baru.
Daren, the fourth singles in the Malaysian team, has now been promoted to third. It is learnt that Daren has been given the nod over World No 54 Kuan Beng Hong, who returned from a hamstring injury just three weeks ago.
There is uncertainty whether the Malaysian team would be able to replace Chong Wei in the singles competition with another player.
The competition rules say a registered player can only be replaced if his team produce a medical certificate of his illness or injury.
However, the Malaysian team are unsure whether this rule applies for both the team and singles competitions. It will be decided at today's team managers' meeting.
Team manager Datuk Sayed Abu Bakar Abdullah said: "I am confident we will be able to replace Chong Wei in the singles. I have spoken to some of the officials here and most of them gave me positive feedback regarding this matter," said Sayed yesterday.
Daren, the World No 74, is regarded as one of the bright young stars in the national team.
The Kuala Lumpur-born player created a stir in the Malaysia Open in January when he beat several world class players including Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana before bowing out to Denmark's Peter Gade Christiansen in the quarter-finals.
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