Postman’s son Huzairi delivers to book final ticket

SHUTTLER Muhd Huzairi Abdul Malek makes it a point to jog every morning despite the pain on his deformed leg.

His dedication paid off when he outlasted his opponents to reach the men’s singles SL3 (impairment in the upper and lower body) final at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil yesterday.

This will be his first final in four Asean Para Games outing.

Malaysia will also be involved in six other finals today.

Yesterday, the 27-year-old Huzairi upset top seed Pham Duc Trung of Vietnam 27-29, 21-15, 11-0 in the quarter-finals, which saw the Vietnamese crumbling from the long rallies and pulling out with cramps.

Second seed Huzairi, whose father is a postman, then played with the same aggression and determination in the semi-finals to down Indonesian Maman Nurjaman 21-14, 14-21, 21-11.

Maman also walked out with cramps after the tiring 42-minute match.

Huzairi, who became a full-time trainee in 2015, will play Ukun Rukaendi of Indonesia in today’s final.

Huzairi admitted that he would be extra motivated to exact revenge on Ukun after losing to the Indonesian in the group match.

“I want to take my parents to Mecca at the end of this year. My dad has retired and my mother sells food at the night market. Winning a gold here is worth RM20,000. That will come in handy,” said Huzairi.