Cheah Liek Hou booked a semi-final berth at the Tokyo Paralympics after another dominant victory in the men’s singles Standing Upper 5 (SU5) category, after he overcame Chinese Taipei’s Fang Jen Yu 21-13, 21-9.
The 27-minute victory put the world number two in pole position to qualify from Group B as champion if he beats Japanese Taiyo Imai in the final encounter on Friday.
Cheah, who comprehensively thrashed Egypt’s Ahmad Eldakrory 21-3, 21-2 on Wednesday, had told Stadium Astro he expected a much tougher contest against Fang.
True enough, he was given a much sterner challenge this time around.
“I finally found my rhythm, thanks to a great challenge posed by Fang. I was trailing 2-5 in the second game and that was when I found my rhythm as I managed to reel him in en route to winning it. I hope to get a third win tomorrow and top Group B,” he said.
As it stands, Cheah is on course to meet Indonesia’s Suryo Nughoro, who is likely to finish as runners-up of Group A behind tournament top seed Dheva Anrimushthi.
Meanwhile, fellow Malaysian para-shuttler Didin Taresoh crashed out of his SH6 category (Standing/Short Stature) after losing against India’s Krishna Nagar 20-22, 10-21 in his first game.
He then retired against Brazil’s Vitor Goncalves in his evening session.
