The Story of Cheah Liek Hou, M’sia’s First Paralympic Badminton Champion, is Set to Screen in Cinemas This July

One of our most historic Paralympic gold medals is the story and journey of Cheah Liek Hou, who made history by becoming the first-ever Paralympic champion in badminton when he won the gold medal in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.

In light of the fact that a movie based on the true story of Cheah Liek Hou’s life and journey is due to be released in cinemas on July 11, we decided to dive in to find out more about the background of the nation’s paralympic badminton hero.

Early life & struggles

In an interview with BERNAMA, Cheah shared how he was born with Erb’s Palsy, which resulted in his right hand being weaker and less stable.

Despite his physical shortcomings, he admitted that he had never let his condition affect him and instead turned all the negativity to light himself up and help him do better.

“Apart from playing in the para category, I used to compete against able-bodied players during my schooling days since I was 12 years old.”

He added, “At that time, a group of individuals would tease and joke about how I wanted to play against able-bodied players when I couldn’t even win against the para-athletes. But they never broke my spirit because I wanted to prove to them that I could do it.”

Meanwhile, in a feature about himself before the Paralympic games, Cheah said, regarding his physical shortcomings, “I have never felt disappointed or sad about my right shoulder because I could maintain the world No.1 ranking.”

His mother, Jap Joe Tjin, shared that when they found out that Cheah had a torn nerve in his right shoulder just two days after his birth, they saw it as a gift from God.

His mother always helped him with massages and supported him in physical therapy. “I did hand exercises with him whenever he was with me,” she said.

As a hyperactive kid, Cheah explained that his mother encouraged him to take up badminton and signed him up for professional training.

“I was a hyperactive kid, I liked to run here and there and I couldn’t sit down quietly. My mum sent me for training, hoping that I could sit down and rest if my energy was drained,” he said.

Break from badminton & return to the court

Although he had won numerous titles before his Paralympic gold medal, Cheah admitted that he almost quit the sport when he realised that badminton would not be contested at the Paralympics.

It even reached a stage where he had to work as a marketing executive sometime around 2015 and push badminton to the side to make it a part-time career.

In an interview in 2019, Cheah said, “Three years ago today, I was still working as a regional strategic account manager with a high-paying salary at a sports firm. I thought that it would be my lifelong career.”

Fortunately, badminton was included in the Tokyo Paralympics for the first time in 2020, leading Cheah to focus entirely on the sport and hire national badminton legend Datuk Rashid Sidek as his coach in 2019.

He explained, “However, as soon as I heard badminton has been selected for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, my life changed. I quit my job and decided to chase my Paralympics dream. It has been an uphill battle. The salary gap between my previous job and a full-time badminton athlete is vast.”

“Just imagine, when I was working, my weight went up to 92 kg. But when I realised I could compete in the Paralympics, I resumed my training regime, and my weight dropped by 20 kg,” he stated.

Making history

In another interview, Rashid Sidek said, “I needed to change his style to suit a singles game because Cheah was a doubles specialist.”

Cheah’s improved physique and performance were hard to miss within a few months. “He’s disciplined. Coaching is much easier when the player is aware of his target and goals,” said Rashid, who had no reason to doubt that gold was within Cheah’s reach in Tokyo.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go in his favour after the Covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.

When asked how this affected Cheah, Rashid said, “For Cheah, it’s a disadvantage because, before the lockdown, he was almost at his peak and ready to compete in the 2020 Paralympics.”

“He was fully prepared to compete at Tokyo 2020, and it’s demotivating. As athletes, we must find ways to maintain the momentum for the next tournament and slowly adapt to the new norm.”

Meanwhile, Cheah confessed that the postponement broke his momentum because his performance had improved over the last few months.

Despite all of the obstacles he had to overcome, the then 33-year-old won the first gold medal in the sport by winning the gold medal match in Men's Single SU5. He scored a superb 21-17, 21-15 upset win over then World No.1 Dheva Anrimusthi of Indonesia.

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He dedicated the gold to all Malaysians, especially Rashid, his family, former coaches and friends.

Onto the next one

With the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games coming up soon, Cheah is showing no signs of slowing down despite his age, having won his eighth World Championships title in the men’s singles in Pattaya in February.

His coach, Nova Armada, said, “This is a good win for Liek Hou as it increases his confidence ahead of the Paralympics. Liek Hou is in good form now and he just needs to maintain his fitness and avoid injuries.”

Despite Liek Hou’s status as the favourite to win gold in Paris, Nova does not want him to underestimate any opponent. “This tournament (Four Nations International) gave Liek Hou the opportunity to study his opponents in Paris. He cannot afford to take anyone lightly and needs to prepare well to face everyone.”

Movie based on his journey to be released this July

Astro Shaw, in association with Act 2 Pictures, Clover Films, and One Cool Entertainment, presents Gold, inspired by the true story of Cheah Liek Hou, the world’s first Paralympic badminton gold medallist at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Gold will be released in cinemas nationwide starting July 11.

The film, which combines values of determination and thrilling action sports with elements of family and community harmony, is directed by box office hit director Adrian Teh, also known for PASKAL The Movie and Malbatt Misi Bakara.

Adrian, synonymous with uniform action films that pay tribute to national heroes, proves his capability by producing a sports-themed movie this time.

Gold features renowned local actors such as Farid Kamil as Rashid Sidek, Jack Tan, who shone in Taiwan with the film Abang Adik as Cheah Liek Hou, Wan Raja as Misbun Sidek, Fabian Loo as Guan Ting, 1990s popular singer Freddie Ng, Josiah Hogan, Daniel Cheah, Yasmin Hani, Lynn Lim, Meeki Ng, and special appearances by Tony Eusoff, Nafiez Zaidi, and Ikhram Juhari.

Watch the trailer below: