PETALING JAYA: There’s just no stopping national para badminton ace Cheah Liek Hou.
The 33-year-old celebrated his sixth victory on the trot by winning the Spanish Para-Badminton International in Cartagena yesterday.
World No. 2 Liek Hou was simply in a class of his own as he powered past Taiyo Imai of Japan 21-13,21-11 in a lopsided, 34-minute SU5 men’s singles final (impairment in upper body) to retain his 100% record against the world No. 5 after five meetings.
Although this title was won in the absence of his two Indonesian arch-rivals, world No. 1 Dheva Anrimusthi and No. 3 Suryo Nugroho, Liek Hou stressed the importance of keeping the strong momentum going with the Paralympic Games looming in three months time.
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Debutants thrive as Spanish Para Badminton International begins Tuesday, 11 May 2021
Former Palma de Mallorca professional footballer Ruben Nova Fernandez was among several new Para badminton players making their international debuts today as the Spanish Para Badminton International - the final Paralympic qualifying event - started in Cartagena.
Fernandez’s football career was ended by a motorbike accident last year, but he has launched himself into a new sporting career and today the home player secured a comfortable 21-12, 21-10 victory over Lukas Kyncl of the Czech Republic in the opening round of men s WH1 Group A.
Fernandez told the Badminton World Federation website: It’s my first international match, I’ve just been classified.
Monday, 10 May 2021
The Spanish Para Badminton International, the final qualifying event for Tokyo 2020, where the sport makes its Paralympic debut, gets underway in Cartagena tomorrow.
The event will run until Sunday (May 16) and feature men’s and women’s singles, men’s and women’s doubles and mixed doubles.
A total of 157 players from 36 countries have arrived in the maritime enclave town ahead of competition at the Palacio de los Deportes de Cartagena.
Top seeds include France s world number six WH1 men s singles player David Toupe, Switzerland’s Karin Suter-Erath in women s singles WH1 and Indonesian SL4 women’s singles world champion Leani Ratri Oktila, as they continue to gather ranking points and match play in the run-up to the Paralympics.
African Para badminton champion and Tokyo 2020 hopeful dies
African Para badminton champion Bello Rafiu Oyebanji has been killed in a traffic collision.
The Nigerian SL4 player won three gold medals at the 2018 African Para Badminton Championships and was also a member of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Para Badminton Athletes Commission.
Bello was hoping to qualify for Tokyo 2020, where badminton is due to make its Paralympic debut, and was due to play at the Spanish Para Badminton International in Cartagena - the last qualification tournament - next month.
Nigeria News Agency reports that Bello died while traveling home from Lagos, where he was visiting the Spanish Embassy to obtain a visa for the tournament.