Didin eyes badminton gold at Asian Para Games

KUALA LUMPUR: Shuttler Didin Taresoh wants to be a role model and an inspiration to many.

He does it best on the badminton court where he is targeting to bring home a gold from the Asian Para Games in Indonesia.

The men’s singles player in the SS6 (short stature) category is keen to add another medal to his collection of major titles.

The Sabahan who has dwarfism won the world para championships in his category in 2015 in London, the Asian Para Badminton Championship in 2016 in Beijing and the Asean Para Games gold in Kuala Lumpur last year.

“My desire to play is firstly to make Malaysia proud in the world. But also I hope to be an example and a role model to the community.

“I want to show that people with disability are not necessarily incapable of doing anything, but that we can actually do many things.”

And even at the age of 43, he has not lost any of his passion for the sport which he has been playing since his younger days.

He continues to make the effort and find the time to balance his job as a primary school mathematics teacher and as an athlete.

“This is a sport that I love, and when I was in Maktab Perguruan (techers’ training college), being active and able to play the sport gave me some extra pointers in helping me get a job.”

“But what makes me train hard daily is really a desire to bring home a gold medal for the country.”

“Also having to keep discipline in my eating habits, eating proper food and getting enough sleep is not always easy but there is always the strong support of wife and children behind me,” he said.