Cheah Liek Hou emphatically emphasised his insatiable desire to keep breaking records after the national para-shuttler sealed his 10th consecutive title by winning the Dubai Para International Championships.
The Malaysian defeated Japan’s Taiyo Imai 21-11, 21-19 in just 34-minutes to successfully defend his Standing Upper 5 (SU5 – upper body impairment) title on Sunday.
The reigning Tokyo Paralympics champion’s success came hot on the heels of his ninth title won in Bahrain last week.
Prior to that, he also picked up his first title of the year at the Brazil Para Badminton International in April, after travelling at his own expense with coach Rashid Sidek.
“I am proud of myself. I want to keep breaking my own records. From eight to 10 [titles] this year alone, I am satisfied with myself. But of course, there are a lot of things I can still improve to stay in top condition.
“As of now, I still have the advantage. But the rest can stop me if their condition is better. At my age, it is tough to be in top condition all the time. Indonesia has always got good shuttlers, and Japan has good attacking players too,” Cheah told Stadium Astro.
The 34-year-old is now on an 52-match winning streak dating back to 2019, a run that saw him win titles in the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Japan, Peru, Spain, Brazil and Bahrain.
More amazingly, Cheah won two titles in Dubai as he teamed up with Muhammad Farez Anuar hours to down Indonesia’s Suryo Nughoro-Dwi Putra 17-21, 21-15, 21-9 for the men’s doubles title too.
This was the pair’s second title after winning in Bahrain.
The world number two would now return to training before preparing for his next assignment in July.
