Para shuttler Liek Hou bags seventh world title

KUALA LUMPUR: Tokyo 2022 Paralympics champion Cheah Liek Hou is in seventh heaven after bagging his seventh men's singles title at the World Para Badminton Championships in Tokyo, Japan today.

The 34-year-old wrested his SU5 (physical impairment) singles title from arch-rival Dheva Anrimusrhi of Indonesia with a 21-14, 21-12 win at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium.

The Kuala Lumpur-born, however, was unable to celebrate a double victory when he failed to bag his sixth men's doubles world title.

Liek Hou and his partner Mohamad Faris Ahmad Azri lost 13-21, 12-21 to Dheva-Hafizh Briliansyah Prawiranegara in the final.

Still, it was a sweet victory for Liek Hou, who lost the title he won four times in a row, following a semi-final loss to Dheva in the 2019 edition.

Liek Hou first clinched the singles in 2005 before retaining it in 2007. He then won four straight times in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. In the men's doubles, he won the title in 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2015.

Meanwhile, in the men's WH1-WH2 (wheelchair) doubles final, Muhammad Ikhwan Ramli-Noor Azwan Noorlan clinched silver after going down 11-21, 15-21 to Germans Rick Cornell Hellmann-Thomas Wandschneider.

-- BERNAMA