Cheah Liek Hou, Malaysia’s gold medal prospect at the Tokyo Paralympics, was featured in a Paralympic documentary series Who I am depicting his personal journey since picking up a racquet aged nine.

The 33-year-old, who was the first shuttler to be profiled in this series, was touched by the effort put in by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Japanese TV station WOWOW to tell his story.

“They had really put in the effort to make this happen. They came all the way from Japan and spent two-three weeks with me to learn about my journey. They shot my daily routine, which started by arriving at my home by 5am before I start my day at 6am.

“It was full day shoots throughout the duration, including me in training in the morning, heading home to rest and returning for the evening session. They also planned to come during Chinese Year so they could shoot my small celebration with my family before the pandemic.

“I really had fun throughout the shooting. The crew were amazing, they were full or energy despite having to start the shoot at wee hours of the morning until midnight. I’m highly appreciative of their efforts,” Cheah told Stadium Astro.

The documentary revolved around Cheah’s life as a hyperactive child who channeled his energy into badminton after realising he was born with a torn nerve in his right shoulder.

“My mother tried to keep me from going in the wrong direction by telling me that playing badminton would make me tired,” he let on in the documentary.

His coach, Rashid Sidek, was also interviewed on the six-time singles SU5 world champion, whom he believed has the ability to become Malaysia’s first para-shuttler to win gold at the Tokyo Paralympics.  

The world number two, who is unbeaten since 2019, is drawn in Group B of the Games along with Japan’s Taiyo Imai, Chinese Taipei’s Fang Jen-Yu and Egyptian Ahmed Eldakrory.

Cheah is expected to top his group, and is likely to meet his rival and top seeded Indonesian Dheva Andimusthi in the final.