Cheah Liek Hou gifted Malaysia a first gold medal at the ongoing Paris Paralympics after the national para-shuttler demolished Indonesia’s Suryo Nugroho 21-13 21-15 in one side Standing Upper 5 (SU5) final on Monday.

Truth be told, the Malaysian defended his SU5 (upper body impairment) gold medal from the Tokyo Paralympics with ease, having won all his matches in straight games in Paris.

Cheah had defeated his fiercest rival Dheva Anrimusthi 21-17, 21-17 in the semi-finals and came into the final as hot favourite against Nugroho.

As expected, the left-hander controlled the final from start to finish as he stayed on the front foot at all times thanks to his attacking play.

The 36-year-old Cheah was dictating the match from all ends of the court, and his ability to produce jumping smashes from the baseline gave the Indonesian plenty of problems.

The Malaysian cruised the first game, but Nugroho gave it everything he had in the second game.

After battling for a hard earned point to make it 13-15, Nughoro hurt his right thigh and required some medical assistance.

It would delay Cheah’s victory, who wrapped up the match 21-15 and immediately ran to hug his coach Nova Armada, before getting a Malaysian flag from a fan and proceeded to run around the arena in celebration.

This is Cheah’s second Paralympics gold medal, after he delivered Malaysia’s first ever para-badminton gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics when he defeated Anrimusthi in the 2021 final.