PETALING JAYA: Para badminton ace Cheah Liek Hou is simply unstoppable.
The 37-year-old smashed his way to a superb ninth men’s singles and seventh men’s doubles title in style at the World Championships in Manama, Bahrain, yesterday.
The double Paralympic champion has won a total of 16 titles since making his debut in the Hsinchu world meet in 2005.
Yesterday, Liek Hou was ruthless as he took only 28 minutes to beat Taiwan’s Fang Jen-yu 21-6, 21-11 in the men’s singles SU5 (upper body impairment) category at the Isa Sports City.
Two hours later, he was back on the court with Faris Ahmad Azri and the duo was sensational in blowing away Taiwan’s Jen-yu-Pu Gui-yu 21-11, 21-11 to capture the doubles title.
Liek Hou was elated.
“I’m proud of myself and it feels amazing. I’m happy because I could maintain my condition throughout the tournament,” said Liek Hou.
“We’ve been competing for almost a week and I’m glad I kept myself going and playing well on court.
“I used the right strategy against my opponent and the result is that I got my ninth title.
“It’s an important win for me because I defended my title, both in the singles and doubles.
“And now I have the most world titles in Malaysia, that makes me very proud.”
His coach, Nova Armada, said the win made up for Liek Hou’s disappointment of losing in the finals of the singles and doubles at the Thailand Asean Para Games last month.
“He (Liek Hou) really wanted the win. But it wasn’t easy for him to get here (after the Thai stint),” said Nova.
“I’m glad to see him get the job done here.”
Liek Hou has won at all World Championship except one – at the 2019 edition in Basel, Switzerland, where he settled for bronze.
Nova added that with the job done in Bahrain, Liek Hou’s next focus will be the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Para Games from Oct 18-24, where he will aim to get his fifth gold medal.
“That’s his target and eventually qualify for the Paralympics in Los Angeles,” said Nova.
“He is confident, consistent, and most importantly, injury-free.” he said.
