Malaysia’s former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei wrote a new chapter in Malaysia’s sports history by winning the women’s singles badminton gold medal in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Buenos Aires on Friday.
However, the 18-year-old from Penang had to use all her experience to clinch the historic gold with a come-from-behind 16-21, 21-13, 21-19 win over China’s Wang Zhiyi. The game lasted 22 minutes, the second 20 minutes and the decider was clinched in 27 minutes.
It was a tightly contested affair according to the Badminton World Federation (BWF) official website. However, the Malaysian was able to cut out the Wang Zhiyi’sattcking game with her ability to retrieve prolonged rallies.
“I thought I would lose the second game but I managed to cut down my mistakes. This result will encourage me to keep working hard for my badminton career,” Jin Wei was quoted.
In the process, Jin Wei became the first player to win the world junior (which she won in Peru in 2015) and the YOG titles.
Jin Wei is also the first athlete to clinch a gold medal in the YOG although Cheam June Wei did win the mixed doubles gold medal in Nanjing fours years ago with Hong Kong’s Ng Tsz Yau under the Olympics banner. The gold did not count towards the country’s medal tally.
Meanwhile, the men’s singles gold went to China’s Li Shifeng who defeated India’s Asian junior champion Lakshya Sen in straight games 21-15, 21-19. –Â RIZAL ABDULLAHÂ
