Former world junior champion Jin Wei eyes top-20 ranking
PETALING JAYA: National women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei aims to reach the world’s top 20 by the end of the year.
And to get there, the 18-year-old knows she must start beating big names and impress in top flight tournaments.
The world No. 32 Jin Wei, who last played at the Uber Cup Finals in Bangkok last month, aims to kick off the second half of 2018 in convincing fashion by reaching the quarter-finals of the Malaysian Open which begins tomorrow at the Axiata Arena.
She will open her campaign against world No. 22 Pai Yu-po of Taiwan with world No. 9 Sung Ji-hyun likely to be her next opponent if she progresses.
“I’m targeting to break into the top 20 by the year end,” vowed Jin Wei, who began the year at No. 50.
“I have been steadily climbing up the world rankings but I want to progress further.
“Having made it to the top 32 means, I would be eligible for many big tournaments. But of course, participation alone won’t help boost your ranking.
“I have to try to win the first two rounds and get into the last eight regularly. And to make it that far, I definitely need to take down some of the world’s top 10 players,” said the 2015 world junior champion.
Jin Wei’s best outings in top flight competitions was reaching the second round of the All-England in March and last year’s Malaysian Open.
Jin Wei, who’s also the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games gold medallist, believes Yu-po will be a tough nut to crack although she has beaten the Taiwanese in straight games in their last two encounters.
“I have seen Yu-po played recently and she has improved a lot. The first round itself is going to be a tough one,” said Jin Wei.
“If I make it to the second round and meet Ji-hyun, I’ll try to get the better of her this time. When I played her at the Singapore Open last year, I managed to stretch her to three games.”
Besides Jin Wei, the other women singles players in the fray are Soniia Cheah and Lee Ying Ying.
Soniia faces an uphill task as her opponent is world No. 1 and defending champion Tai Tzu-ying while Ying Ying faces another Taiwanese Li Chiang-ying, the world No. 44.