KUALA LUMPUR: After 12 long years, national para shuttler Cheah Liek Hou has managed to secure his third Asian Para Games gold medal in the men's badminton doubles SU5 (physical disability), together with Mohd Faris Ahmad Azri at the 2026 Para Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, on Wednesday (Oct 21).
The Malaysians ended the round-robin event without a single loss, beating South Koreans Jeon Sun-woo-Kim Gi-yeon 21-8, 21-13 in their last match at Ichinomiya Municipal Gymnasium, finishing on top with six points from three wins.
Pricha Somsiri-Nattaphon Thaweesap of Thailand won the silver with four points (two wins, one loss), and Taiwanese pair Fang Jen Yu-Pu Gui Yu won the bronze with two points (one win, two losses).
Liek Hou had won his previous two doubles gold medals with his partner Suhaili Laiman in 2010 and 2014.
His third gold medal is also Malaysia's first in badminton and fourth in this edition of the Games, with medals coming from powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin (men's under 72kg), long jumper Datuk Abdul Latif Romly (T20) and cyclist Zuhairie Ahmad Tarmizi (1,000 meter C4-C5 time trial). - Bernama
