Newly crowned Tokyo Paralympics champion Cheah Liek Hou has now ticked every major box in his career – Asian Para Games winner, six-time singles world champion, and now a Paralympic gold medalist.
His triumph on Saturday also meant he became the first-ever para badminton shuttler to win a Paralympic gold medal.
When Stadium Astro spoke to Cheah back in May, the 33-year-old said he had waited 18-years for this moment and would trade his plethora of medals for one gold at the biggest stage of all.
The world number two went on to do the exact opposite of that by adding the final piece of jigsaw with this mother of all gold medals.
No one could have put it beyond him to upset top seed Dheva Anrimusthi to win gold in the SU5 (standing upper 5, upper body impairment) in Tokyo.
Cheah came into the Tokyo Paralympics with a 31-match unbeaten record dating back to 2019, which coincidentally came against the Indonesian when he lost at the 2019 Para-Badminton World Championships.
This time, victory was duly avenged courtesy of a 21-17, 21-15 triumph in a 50-minute battle.
“I released everything just now. I really tried my best. I was focused throughout the match. I deserved to win it,” said Cheah after the win, adding he also got valuable advice from three-time Olympic silver medalist Lee Chong Wei.
“I had messaged Lee on how to overcome nerves and pressure on court. He told me there would be a lot of pressure on me, because they are all depending on me. They want me to get a good result. He told me to enjoy myself and release whatever I can.”
Lee himself admitted shedding tears of joy watching Cheah clinch the winning point and hugging his coach Rashid Sidek.
Rashid had of course played an instrumental role in both the shuttlers careers.
When Cheah turned to him in 2019, Rashid took the then doubles shuttler under his wings and turned him into a men's singles ace.
Cheah had since been training with able-bodied shuttlers, including juniors and professional shuttlers as part of Rashid’s programme.
The Malaysian was in imperious form throughout the Paralympics, winning all his group matches to top his group, before overcoming a stern test from Chinese Taipei’s Fang Jen Yu in the semi-finals.
Cheah won the country’s second gold medal at the Paralympics after powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin.
Soon after, Abdul Latif Romly bagged the country’s third gold when he defended his men’s long jump T20 (intellectual impairment) event.
Badminton became an official Paralympic Games sport for the first time this year.
