Timely Christmas joy: Goh Jin Wei seems to be in a happy mood after getting the chance to play in the Malaysian Open.
PETALING JAYA: There were Boxing Day cheers for Goh Jin Wei as she has been promoted from the reserve list to play in the Malaysian. Open
Jin Wei, who was the first reserve, will replace Iris Wang after the United States shuttler withdrew from the super 1000 tournament which will be held at the Axiata Arena from Jan 10-15.
The independent shuttler’s inclusion is good news for the hosts as the women’s singles is the only event that no Malaysian had qualified on merit.
Players in the world’s top 32 are eligible for the super 1000 and Jin Wei, currently ranked world No. 36, had been waiting anxiously to see if she could get the lucky break.
Independent coach Nova Armada said that playing the event will help Jin Wei improve her world ranking and she does not have to worry about playing in bigger tournaments if she can make it to the top 32.
“She did not play in the Malaysian International Challenge as she has been playing in several tournaments continuously. So, it’s a good break for her to play in the Malaysian Open which is one of the biggest tournaments in the world,” said Nova.
“Since she underwent an operation (in 2019), she can’t play in too many tournaments in one go and needs to look after her health.
“She has rested well to recover from competing in about seven tournaments in the last three months and has started training two weeks ago.”
Jin Wei, who underwent colectomy surgery three years ago, has been hit by health issues and this has forced her to miss tournaments constantly.
She has been pushing hard to break into the top 32 so that she does not have to play in the international challenge events and super 300 events where she is required to go through the qualifying rounds.
As for the Malaysian Open, Jin Wei is likely to play Yvonne Li of Germany in the first round before an expected second-round clash against second seed An Se-young of South Korea.
A redraw will only be conducted if a bigger number of players pull out from the women’s singles.
Jin Wei did not qualify for the Malaysian Open in July due to her low world ranking but she may not face that problem any longer if she does well in the tournament next month.
