KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 2 — Independent shuttler Daren Liew has not dropped a set en route to the BWF World Championships quarterfinals stage for the first time in his career.

He has beaten three seeded players and will meet Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama tomorrow for a place in the semifinals.

Liew is the sole singles representative for Malaysia after Lee Chong Wei’s withdrawal. He had to negotiate the dangerous Jonatan Christie from Indonesia in the first round, managing a 21-16, 21-16 win.

Then he beat Misha Zilberman of Israel with the same scoreline in the second round. His finest game came against former world No. 1 K. Srikanth in the third round where he won 21-18, 21-18, and has become the hottest topic at the World Championships with his giant-killing feats.

Joining Liew in the quarterfinals are debutantes Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik who created another big upset beating eight seeds Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmusen 21-18, 21-16. 

“We’ve been fighting hard since the first round and were surprised we managed to beat them especially since they’re in the top 10 in the world,” said Soh.

“Were proving to the world we can beat top pairs despite our age. Our play has been consistent since the first rounds and we are playing without pressure.”

Mixed doubles pair Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying beat Marcus Ellis-Lauren Smith 21-16, 17-21, 21-18 and made their first ever quarterfinals in five attempts (2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015).

“We’ve been playing together for so long and only now were making the quarters. I feel it comes down to how we prepare,” said Chan.

“We tend to train differently when it comes to big competitions. In the future I feel we should prepare like we always do and the results will come.”

In other matches, Goh Jin Wei almost upset defending champion Nozomi Okuhara. The Penangite was trailing the entire first set before getting her first game point at 21-20. However, the experience of Nozomi shone through as she prevailed 23-21, 21-13 in 46 minutes.

“Made some mistakes on crucial points. I was trying to finish off the game,” said Goh.

“Didn’t play my best today but I feel I’ve learnt a lot about my game from this match and I will keep working hard to be better,” added the 18-year-old.

Joining her on the sidelines are Chow Mei Kuan-Lee Meng Yean who lost to Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu 21-18, 21-13. Seventh seeds Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Jemie Lai lost 20-22, 21-14, 21-6 to unseeded S. Rankireddy-Ashwini Ponnappa.