KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — National women’ singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei is not placing any expectations at the Malaysia Masters badminton championship this week, her first competition since going on long medical leave due to a stomach ailment.
The 19-year-old, who has received the green light from her doctor to play in the World Tour season-opener at the Axiata Arena from January 7 to 12, said that the tournament would be a good platform for her to gauge her recovery.
Goh is delighted to have a chance to play on home ground as she now can pick up from where she left off and get her Olympics dream back on track.
“My current condition is at about 75 per cent. I have to work harder to get back to 100 per cent and even better. I don’t want to rush things at this stage.
“I am not putting any expectations on myself because I have not fully recovered, but it is a good platform for me to asses and see how my body is recovering,” she said in a statement today.
The two-time world junior champion performed remarkably in last year’s edition where she reached the semi-finals after disposing Akane Yamaguchi (Japan) and He Bingjiao (China).
However, she fell to eventual champion Ratchanok Inthanon of Thailand in the last four.
The Penang-born player went a long medical leave due to her stomach ailment which led to part of her colon being removed.
Meanwhile, Goh who visited her former alma mater SMK Seri Hartamas today, gave away 120 tickets for its students to witness the world’s top players compete in the tournament which offers Tokyo Olympic qualifying points.
“I’m happy to be back at my old school. It brings back a lot of memories of my time here, I learnt a lot from this school. I hope they can come and support us and see the national team perform,” she added.
Also present at the school today were SMK Seri Hartamas headmistress Suzieany Mohd Haris, and Co-Curriculum administrative assistant Rohana Md Noh. — Bernama
