From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar
PARIS: National para-badminton ace Cheah Liek Hou will be on a two-pronged mission when he faces Indonesian Suryo Nugroho in the men’s singles SU5 (physical impairment) final at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena here today.
Not only does he want to retain the gold medal he won at the Tokyo 2020 edition, but he also aims to avenge his teammate Muhammad Fareez Anuar’s semi-final loss to the Indonesian
Liek Hou said it would have been a dream come true had they set up an all-Malaysian final but admitted that fatigue affected world number four Muhammad Fareez, who is making his Paralympic debut.
However, world number one Liek Hou refuses to put additional pressure on himself, saying he will be more cautious against Suryo, who may adopt a new strategy after losing to the Malaysian 10-21, 13-21 in their Group A match on Saturday.
“I cannot be too overconfident although I beat him in our group meeting. In the final, I expect him to give me a tougher fight as he has nothing to lose.
“I have always targeted defending the gold medal. Now, with just one match to go, I intend to analyse his win over Muhammad Fareez (in the semi-final),” he told reporters here after his semi-final win over arch-nemesis Dheva Anrimusthi of Indonesia yesterday.
In the semi-finals, Liek Hou downed the Indonesian 21-17, 21-17 while Suryo defeated Muhammad Fareez 21-12, 14-21, 21-6.
Besides the win over Suryo, Liek Hou also scored convincing victories over his two other Group A opponents, beating Poland’s Mroz Bartlomiej 21-10, 21-6 on Thursday (Aug 29) and France’s Meril Loquette 21-10, 21-16 on Friday (Aug 30).
Commenting on today’s win, Liek Hou said he was just grateful to have overcome his arch-nemesis, adding that he relied heavily on his experience and the analysis he did before the match.
Liek Hou also hopes that Muhammad Fareez will not give up and use the experience gained from his maiden Paralympic outing to strengthen his game for future tournaments.
The 2024 Paris Paralympic Games began on Aug 28 and will conclude on Sunday (Sept 8).
Medal tally on the fourth day (Sept 1):
| GOLD | SILVER | BRONZE | |
| China | 33 | 27 | 11 |
| Great Britain | 23 | 12 | 8 |
| USA | 8 | 11 | 8 |
| Brazil | 8 | 4 | 15 |
| France | 6 | 9 | 11 |
| Australia | 6 | 6 | 10 |
| Netherlands | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Italy | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| Uzbekistan | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Switzerland | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Malaysia | 0 | 0 | 1 |
– BERNAMA
