Good progress in two years but more time needed for impact on world stage, says Fareez


Good combo Fareez Anuar (right) and Cheah Liek Hou (left) with their coach Nova Armada.

KUALA LUMPUR: The country’s rising para badminton star Mohd Fareez Anuar still does not seem to believe that he can achieve so much improvement in performance in just two years since leading the country’s challenge in the sport back in 2022.

The 28-year-old said he had set his sights on achieving an impressive level of play within three years but his involvement so far has turned out to be quite an impactful one.

“It feels like a dream, I didn’t expect that in two years I would have had various experiences, including the opportunity to compete for the first time at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,’’ he said.

“The progress in performance for two years is very fast for me because I expect at least three years to reach this level and catch up with other great players,” he told Bernama.

Fareez said one of the secrets of his achievements was the effectiveness of the training programme prepared by coach Nova Armada.

He said he was very happy with the approach applied by the Indonesian coach, who has a variety of training patterns according to the tournaments and games he participated in.

“Sometimes there is a relaxing time, sometimes there is a time when he will push us hard. I like that approach, as an athlete as it’s good for us to feel less stressed and enjoy the game more,” he said.

Not only that, the world number five said the opportunity to train with world number one and two-time Paralympic gold medallist Cheah Liek Hou has also helped him to get to where he is now.

Despite making it to the semi-finals with an energetic performance at the Paralympics, Fareez admits that sometimes he still can’t completely forget his failure to bring home a medal from the prestigious sporting event.

“Until now I’m still thinking about the Paris experience, and I feel sad for not bringing home a medal. It is difficult to move on,” he said.

Fareez’s dream of a medal was dashed after he lost to Indonesia’s Dheva Anrimusthi, 21-17, 19-21, 12-21 in the SU5 men’s singles bronze medal match at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena last September.

He had earlier shown his prowess by winning Group B, including shocking second seed Fang Jen-Yu of Taiwan, with a 21-14, 21-18 victory.

At the same time, he was also aggrieved that he could not close the 2024 campaign more gloriously when he fell to Dheva 15-21, 17-21 in the final of the 2024 International Bahrain Para Badminton Championships in Manama, Bahrain, recently.

However, the player from Johor continued to excel with Liek Hou when they topped the SU5 men’s doubles competition in the same tournament by coming from behind to defeat the Indonesian pair of Dheva and Hafizh Briliansyah Prawiranegara 13-21, 21-17, 21-16.

Meanwhile, Fareez has a mission to become among the top three best players in the world next year and added that he was currently undergoing training and is scheduled to return to the court during two tournaments in Spain next March – the 2025 Spanish Para Badminton Championships I and II. — Bernama

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