Liek Hou said he had messaged Chong Wei — the chef de mission for the Tokyo Olympics — about overcoming his nerves and the pressure on the court.

Chong Wei, he said, shared a lot of advice, the Badminton World Federation reported.

The three-time Olympic silver medallist told him that there would be a lot of pressure on him as everyone was “depending on me”, Liek Hou said.

“He said the people wanted me to do well. Chong Wei told me to enjoy myself and do my best at the Paralympic Village,” he said.

Liek Hou went on to thank Chong Wei for the advice and dedicated his win to Malaysians.

“This is a wonderful moment, of course.”

Liek Hou made Paralympic Games history as the first-ever badminton gold medallist after beating Indonesia’s Dheva Anrimusthi in the Tokyo 2020 final today.

The 33-year-old Liek Hou defeated top seed and world No 1 Dheva 21-17, 21-15 in 50 minutes at the Yoyogi National Stadium to emerge the SU5 (physical impairment) men’s singles winner.

Tokyo 2020 marks badminton’s debut in the Paralympic Games programme.