Jin Wei out to gun down top guns to improve world ranking

KUALA LUMPUR: National women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei has had enough of losing early in topflight tournaments.

And to overcome that, the 18-year-old has vowed to start beating world top 10 rivals regularly in order to reach at least the quarter-finals and improve her world rankings.

Jin Wei has been ranked in the top 30 since February last year and gained her entry into top-tier events, but made little progress due to constant defeats to stronger opponents in early rounds.

But Jin Wei, buoyed by her Youth Olympic Games and World Junior Championships successes last year, believes she has improved by leaps and bounds and has the game to gun down top-ranked competitors.

“I’m targeting to win more matches and avoid losing in the first two rounds. To do that, I must beat higher-ranked opponents,” said the world No. 27.

“Due to my ranking, I can expect to continue getting tough draws. But I’m optimistic about my chances this year because I’ve been able to narrow the gap with the world’s top 10.

“Although I’ve lost many early matches, I managed to give my opponents a good fight and forced them into a deuce or rubber game.

“My game has improved and matured further now. I definitely stand a chance against anyone,” added the 2017 Kuala Lumpur SEA Games gold medallist.

Last year, Jin Wei enjoyed her best result at the Malaysian Open. She upset then world No. 9 Sung Ji-hyun in the last 16 before her run was halted by world No. 1 Tai Tzuying in the quarter-finals.

Jin Wei will have a chance to prove her worth in the early season when she competes in the back-to- back Malaysian Masters next week (Jan 15-20) and Indonesian Masters (Jan 22-27).

She’s seeking her breakthrough win against Japan’s Akane Yamaguchi in the first round at the Axiata Arena after losing to the world No. 5 in all their previous five encounters.

The last time she met Yamaguchi in the first round of the China Open in October last year, Jin Wei went down fighting 21-23, 21-12, 15-21.

As for the Indonesian Masters opening hurdle, Jin Wei will be defending her unbeaten record against world No. 7 He Bingjiao of China.