In 2003, despite being a year younger than many of his rivals, he was a world junior silver medallist at Komatsu, Japan in the Canadian canoe C-1 1000 m and also finished fourth in the C-1 500 m event.

Having won the 2004 European Junior Championships at both the C-1 500 m and C-1 1000 m in Poznań, Poland, Cheban was selected to represent Ukraine in both C-1 events at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Competing against much more experienced canoeists, he placed sixth in his initial heat of the C-1 500 m with a time of 2:00.238, qualifying for the semifinals.

At the 2010 championships, Cheban won two medals with a silver in the C-1 4 × 200 m and a bronze in the C-1 200 m (tied with Canada's Richard Dalton).

He succeeded in defending his title four years later at the 2016 Olympics, defeating his former teammate, Valentin Demyanenko, who competed for Azerbaijan.