JIN WEI VOWS NOT TO MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE
Painful lesson at world juniors keeps Jin Wei on guard
KUALA LUMPUR: National shuttler Goh Jin Wei has vowed not to make the same mistake twice.
Jin Wei underestimated her opponent and lost to China’s Han Yue 21-9, 21-10 in the semi-final at the World Junior Championships in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, last year.
After that painful lesson, she wants to get it right in her final world junior campaign in Markham, Canada, from Nov 5-11 next month.
“Last time, I was thinking too much about other things and couldn’t concentrate on how to win the point and it put a lot of pressure on me,” said Jin Wei.
“But I will learn from that this time around and I’m more motivated to do better.”
As it will be her last outing in the championships, Jin Wei will want to repeat her performance in Lima, Peru, in 2015 when she became the first Malaysian to win the girl’s singles title.
And Jin Wei looks to be in fine form ahead of the tournament as she took home Malaysia’s first-ever gold medal at the Youth Olympic Games when she won the girl’s singles event in Buenos Aires, Argentina, earlier this month.
“The important thing is to maintain the process and play well, and the outcome will be good,” said Jin Wei.
“It won’t be the same as the Youth Olympics (YOG), as there will be more players going for the world junior championships.
“China only sent one player for the YOG but here, there will be like five of them – so it’s a different competition.
“I haven’t played most of them, so I will have to analyse their games first.”
The 18-year-old also gave a creditable performance to finish in the last 16 of the World Championships in China in August and having played at the senior level, it will be an advantage for her.
“It does help playing in the senior tournaments, because the speed is very different. There is more power and the game plan is much better, so it’s different from the juniors.”
Jin Wei is one of the players who had a chance to have a personal conversation with Youth and Sports Deputy Minister Steven Sim, who visited the national team during their training at the Academy Badminton Malaysia (ABM) yesterday.
“We talked about our hometown as we’re both from BukitMertajam. He told me to go out and give a good fight, and not to put too much pressure on myself.”