KUALA LUMPUR – Defending champion Cheah Liek Hou and Muhammad Fareez Anuar each need just one more win to set up a historic all-Malaysian final in the men's singles SU5 (standing upper) event at the Paris Paralympics.
Both players completed the round-robin group stages yesterday as group winners, each securing three wins at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Top seed Liek Hou required only 31 minutes to achieve a 21-10, 21-13 victory over Indonesia's Suryo Nugroho in Group A. The Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist had previously defeated Poland's Bartlomiej Mroz and France's Meril Loquette in his first and second group matches.
Fareez, who has been in excellent form at the Games, narrowly defeated Japan's Taiyo Imai 17-21, 21-17, 21-17 in Group B. The Malaysian world number four had already aced his first two group matches against world number two Fang Jen-Yu of Chinese Taipei and Tokyo Paralympics silver medallist Dheva Anrimusthi of Indonesia.
Speaking after his match, 36-year-old Liek Hou told Bernama: "It seemed like there was no point for him (Suryo) to go all out. He appeared quite relaxed."
Both Indonesians, Suryo and Dheva, also advanced to the knockout stage by finishing second in their groups.
In a repeat of the Tokyo Games final, Liek Hou will face Dheva tomorrow, while Fareez will play against Nugroho. – September 1, 2024
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