Go for it: Jin Wei has yet to beat Sindhu after four meetings.
PETALING JAYA: Energiser bunny Goh Jin Wei is expected to step on the court all charged up today after she was rested in the tie against Australia in the Sudirman Cup.
Except for the 23-year-old Jin Wei, Malaysia fielded all their top ranked shuttlers, and they went on to beat lower ranked Australia 5-0 in the opening Group C tie at the Olympic Sports Centre in Suzhou, China, yesterday.
Instead of Jin Wei, Malaysia fielded K. Letshanaa and the former defeated Tiffany Ho 21-19, 21-12 to provide the winning point.
Earlier, mixed pair Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie started the ball rolling by winning 21-17, 21-14 against Choo Zhe Hooi-Gronya Somerville and Lee Zii Jia hardly broke a sweat in his 21-3, 21-13 win against Ricky Tan.
The other two points came from Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah.
Malaysia will face India today and Taiwan on Wednesday.
Only the best two teams from every group will advance to the quarter-finals.
National singles coaching director Wong Choong Hann said Jin Wei was rested to prepare her for the tougher game against P.V. Sindhu.
“Jin Wei’s condition is okay and we hope to see her in action next. We only expect the best from her,” said Choong Hann.
Two-time world junior champion Jin Wei has played Sindhu four times but has never won, but their last encounter at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games (team and individual) was close. She lost in three games in the quarter-finals of the individual competition and that was the only time Jin Wei has taken one game off the Indian superstar.
World No. 8 Zii Jia is also bracing for tougher matches ahead.
“This game (against Australia) was only a warm-up. It will be tougher against India and Taiwan. I just want to gain my confidence here,” he said.
As far as the doubles were concerned, national doubles coaching director Rexy Mainaky was happy with the return of Pearly on a winning note.
Pearly-Thinaah, who had to withdraw from the Asian Championships in Dubai last month due to illness to the former, won their match against Kaitlyn Ea-Gronya Somerville 21-12, 21-13 to show that both Malaysians are back on the right track.
“Pearly and Thinaah’s movements on the court were okay,” said Rexy, but he remains cautious.
“Taiwan beat India (4-1) but I don’t see India as the weaker team. Both have strong line-ups.”
India have shown vast improvements and one can expect the tie to go down to the wire. Group C: Malaysia bt Australia 5-0 (Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai Jemie bt Kenneth Choo Zhe Hooi-Gronya Somerville 21-17, 21-14; Lee Zii Jia bt Ricky Tan 21-3, 21-13; K. Letshanaa bt Tiffany Ho 21-19, 21-12; Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik bt Rayne Wang-Jack Yu 21-7, 21-14; Pearly Tan-M. Thinaah bt Kaitlyn Ea-Gronya Somerville 21-12, 21-13); Taiwan bt India 4-1 (Yang Po-hsuan-Hu Ling-fang bt K. Sai Prateek-Tanisha Casto 18-21, 26-24, 21-6; Chou Tien-chen bt H.S. Prannoy 21-19, 21-15; Tai Tzu-ying bt P.V. Sindhu 21-14, 18-21, 21-17; Lee Yang-Ye Hong-wei bt Satwiksairaj Rankireddy-Chirag Shetty 21-13, 17-21, 21-18; Lee Chia-hsin-Teng Chun-hsun lost to Treesa Jolly-Gayatri Gopichand 21-15, 18-21, 13-21). Group D: South Korea bt France 4-1.
