Paralympics: All eyes on Liek Hou to deliver Malaysia’s first gold

From Amiril Muttaqien Meketar

PARIS: All eyes will be on national para-badminton ace Cheah Liek Hou today as he bids to deliver Malaysia’s first gold medal at the ongoing 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.

Liek Hou advanced to the men’s singles SU5 (physical impairment) final for the second straight time in the Paralympics after defeating arch-nemesis Dheva Anrimusthi of Indonesia 21-17, 21-17 in the semi-finals at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena yesterday.

The one awaiting the world number one and top seed in today’s final is Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho, who defeated Muhammad Fareez Anuar 21-12, 14-21, 21-6 in the other semi-final to dash hopes of an all-Malaysian showdown.

On paper, Liek Hou holds the upper hand over Suryo, having won 13 of their 17 meetings while Muhammad Fareez will go into his bronze medal playoff against Anrimusthi as the underdog because he has only beaten the Indonesian (Anrimusthi) twice in six encounters.

Meanwhile, Malaysia finally ended their medal hunt when national sprinter Eddy Bernard bagged a bronze in the men’s 100-metre (m) T44 (physical impairment) event by clocking 11.58 seconds (s) on the fourth day of the 2024 Paris Paralympics yesterday.

The 23-year-old Paralympic debutant showed no nerves as he ran an impressive race to break the old Asian record of 11.75s set by Sri Lanka’s Indika Gamage at the 2024 World Para Athletics Championships in Kobe, Japan in May.

South Africa’s Mpumelelo Mhlongo (11.12s) took gold while Cuba’s Yamel Luis Vives Suares (11.20s) settled for silver.

The impressive achievement of Eddy, who hails from Beluran, Sabah, means Malaysia has finally won a medal in track events after eight years, following the success of Mohamad Ridzuan Mohamad Puzi in the men’s 100m T36 event at the 2016 Paralympics in Brazil.

Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin hopes that Eddy’s success will inspire the other national athletes to deliver the goods for the country at the Paralympics.

“Alhamdulillah, we expected Eddy to win a medal. He has such great talent and proved it by coming in third. It’s such a relief for us,” he said.

Meanwhile, national boccia player Noor Askuzaimey Mat Salim came up short in her bid to win a bronze medal after going down 7-1 to world number one Leidy Chica Chica of Colombia in the third-placing playoff at the South Paris Arena 1 yesterday.

Noor Askuzaimey lost 7-0 to Hong Kong’s Cheung Yeun in the semi-finals earlier. – BERNAMA