KUALA LUMPUR: Cheah Liek Hou is the frontrunner for the BWF Para-Shuttler of the Year award after a stellar season highlighted by his dominance in the SU5 category.
The 36-year-old claimed five SU5 titles this year, including the World Para Badminton Championships and the Paris Paralympics.
Despite his outstanding achievements over the years, Liek Hou has yet to win the BWF award, even after multiple nominations.
His competitors this year include wheelchair players Daiki Kajiwara of Japan (WH2), and Qu Zimo of China (WH1), who won in 2019 and 2020-21.
Another nominee is India's Kumar Nitesh (SL3), who, like Kajiwara and Zimo, clinched gold at the Paris Paralympics.
"I have been nominated many times and have never won this award before. So, I don't harbour any hopes for this," said Liek Hou.
Meanwhile, in the regular categories, Denmark's Viktor Axelsen, a two-time Olympic champion and world No. 3, leads the nominations for the men's singles Player of the Year award.
He is joined by world No. 1 Shi Yu Qi of China, Denmark's Anders Antonsen (No. 2) and Taiwan's Chou Tien Chen (No. 9).
In the women's singles category, South Korea's world No. 1 An Se Young is the favourite.
Other nominees include China's Wang Zhi Yi (world No. 2) and Han Yue (No. 8), as well as Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (No. 6).