Jin Wei forced to retire with recurring ankle injury

PETALING JAYA: A recurrence of an ankle injury to Goh Jin Wei cost Malaysia dearly in the mixed team event at the Asian Junior Badminton Championships.

The 17-year-old felt a sharp pain on her left leg against Indonesia’s Gregoria Mariska in the semi-finals in Jakarta yesterday. She was forced to retire while trailing 11-21, 16-17 in the girls’ singles clash.

Jin Wei was also unable to take the court in the girls’ doubles. She and Pearly Tan conceded a walkover to Agatha ImanuelaSiti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.

As a result, Malaysia eventually lost 1-3 to Indonesia.

It was a sad end for Malaysia. The joint third-fourth seeds had qualified for the last eight as Group B champions, winning all their matches against Myanmar, Macau, Vietnam and Singapore.

In the quarter-finals, Malaysia had performed superbly to beat Taiwan 3-1 to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2012.

Jin Wei was the star, delivering two points by winning the singles and doubles with Pearly. The other point came from Chang Yee Jun-Ng Eng Cheong in the boys’ doubles.

Malaysia coach Kwan Yoke Meng was pleased with the team’s efforts in securing a bronze medal.

“There’s nothing we could do with Jin Wei’s injury. It’s an old injury and she just felt the pain after putting pressure on her left foot,” said Yoke Meng.

“But I’m still proud of the team and their fighting spirit, especially during the quarter-finals. Now we’ll concentrate on the individual event,” added Yoke Meng.