PARIS, Sept 1 – The national para-badminton camp is just one step away from making history after Cheah Liek Hou and Muhammad Fareez Anuar stormed into the semi-finals of the men’s singles SU5 (physical impairment) category at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games.
Liek Hou, the Tokyo 2020 gold medallist, downed Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho 21-10, 21-13 to top Group A and, thus, avoid a semi-final clash against teammate Muhammad Fareez, who topped Group B.
The semi-final draw pitted LIek Hou against Group B runner-up Dheva Anrimusthi of Indonesia in a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 final, which the Malaysian won 21-17, 21-15.
Muhammad Fareez, meanwhile, will take on Suryo after the world number five finished second behind Liek Hou in Group A.
Based on the head-to-head records of the semi-finalists, both Malaysian para shuttlers seem to have a slight advantage, with Liek Hou having emerged triumphant eight times in 15 meetings against Anrimusthi and Muhammad Fareez winning five times and losing thrice to Suryo.
Although they have faced each other quite often, Liek Hou feels that he will still need to analyse video clips of world number three Anrimusthi’s matches to draw up an effective strategy and ensure he can make back-to-back finals in the Paralympics.
He was also pleased to see Muhammad Fareez making the semi-finals and is keeping his fingers crossed that they can make it an all-Malaysian final.
