KUALA LUMPUR: Goh Jin Wei is World Junior champion for the second time!
On Sunday, the 18-year-old shuttler capped a brilliant year for herself in her last appearance at the world junior meet, when she edged Denmark's Line Christophersen 21-13, 21-11 in the girls' singles final in Markham, Canada.
The last time Jin Wei was crowned champion was at the 2015 edition in Lima, Peru.
"It may look easy but the tournament has been quite tough from the beginning,” she said.
"To me, there was a lot of ups and downs, especially after the mixed team event. I felt pressured.
"I'm just so happy to have won again," said Jin Wei when contacted.
The Penang-born, who was also crowned Youth Olympic Games (YOG) champion last month in Buenos Aires, now joins an elite few who have won the world junior title more than once since the tournament's inception in 1992.
Among the notable players who have done so previously were former world champion, Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand (2009, 2010, 2011), Akane Yamaguchi of Japan (2013, 2014) and China's Chen Jin (2002, 2004).
In the girls' doubles final, Pearly Tan-Toh Ee Wei couldn't make it a double for Malaysia when their impressive run came to an end.
The third seeded Malaysians, who did well to reach the final, went down in straight games, 21-16, 21-16, to World No 1 Liu Xuanxuan-Xia Yuting of China.
The last time the national team came home from the World Juniors with more than one title was in 2011, through Zulfadli Zulkiffli (boys' singles) and Nelson Heg-Teo Ee Yi (boys' doubles).
FINAL RESULTS
Boys' singles: Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Tha) bt Kodai Naraoka (Jpn) 21-9, 21-11; Doubles: Di Zijian-Wang Chang (Chn) bt Shin Tae Yang-Wang Chan (Kor) 21-19, 22-20; Girls' singles: Goh Jin Wei bt Line Christophersen (Den) 21-13, 21-11; Doubles: Liu Xuanxuan-Xia Yuting (Chn) bt Pearly Tan-Toh Ee Wei 21-16, 21-16; Mixed doubles: Leo Rolly Cornando-Indah Cahya Sari Jamil (Ina) bt Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti (Ina) 21-15, 21-9