PETALING JAYA: Shuttler Goh Jin Wei must have been gutted for not being part of the Road to Gold programme when several other independent players have been included.
But the 23-year-old will get a good opportunity to gain much needed confidence when she competes in the National Championships at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara starting today.
The 2016 national champion Jin Wei, who is the top seed in the women’s singles event at the tournament, has been struggling for form lately.
Jin Wei had suffered six consecutive first round exits in individual events.
She has yet to win a match since her stunning victory over India’s P. V. Sindhu in the group stage of the Sudirman Cup in May.
A second national title could be just the right tonic for Jin Wei, who dropped four rungs from No. 30 to No. 34 in the latest world rankings.
She still is the country’s top player as the next player nearest to her is S. Kisona at the 60th spot.
Jin Wei has been struggling to cope with the intensity in back-to-back international tournaments after returning from colectomy surgery in 2021.
“Hopefully, her physical condition will be good in the national meet,” said coach Nova Armada.
“She is also preparing for the Korean Open (July 18-23) and Japan Open (July 25-30) after the national meet.”
Jin Wei came close to winning the national title for the second time in 2019 in Ipoh but she had to settle for the runners-up spot after losing to former national player Soniia Cheah in the final.
In 2018, she had lost to Kisona in the semi-finals.
The tournament was not held in 2020, 2021 and 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Besides Jin Wei, the other shuttlers, who will be vying for the title are Badminton Association of Malaysia’s (BAM) current No. 1 K. Letshanaa, last year’s Malaysian Games (Sukma) gold medallist Siti Nurshuhaini Azman and Wong Ling Ching.
