Choo Min Wang (left) playing against his Indonesian opponent. Choo won the gold in chess men s standard B2/B3 as well as the team event.

NAYPYITAW: Seventy-four-year-old Choo Min Wang was the toast of the national contingent when he delivered two gold medals at the 7th Asean Para Games.

He never expected that the confidence his friend and national paralympic chess squad coach Abdul Latiff Mohamad had in him would pay off.

I had already retired but Latiff said I could still play chess well. So, I decided to heed his call and trained every day.

After this, I will retire from representing the country due to my health problems. I will then help Latiff train other chess players. In this way, I can still contribute to the country, he said.

Choo, who has sight impairment because of an accident in 2002, began representing the country as a disabled athlete in the 2005 Asean Para Games in Manila.

He almost became an international chess master in 1969 and he was the national champion several times.

He left the sport in 1973 after being appointed assistant director of the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama).

In the chess competition at the Billiard and Snooker Centre at the Wunna Theikdi Sports Complex here, Choo won all fives matches in the men s standard B2/B3 (sight impairment) category and collected five points to secure the gold.

He also won the team gold along with Shaharuddin Sidek and Saharuddin Mappa. Bernama