KUALA LUMPUR: No Olympics, no problem for national women’s singles Goh Jin Wei, who plans to use this year to focus on her recovery.
After being sidelined for half a year due to a stomach ailment, the two-time former world junior champion (2015 and 2018) finally made a comeback in January.
Progress has been slow, and the 20-year-old is far from where she once was, but Jin Wei is not complaining.
Recently, the Penang-born contributed a point in Malaysia’s 3-1 win against Taiwan, which sent the national side through to the last four of the Asia Team Championships in Manila.
By making top four in the competition, Malaysia also qualified on merit for the Uber Cup in Aarhus, Denmark on May 16-24.
Speaking to Timesport upon returning to Kuala Lumpur, Jin Wei said: “I’m happy to be back on court. I feel good.
“Maybe I am a little disappointed because I couldn’t contribute more to the team but I am grateful to have recovered.”
In October, Jin Wei went under the knife for a colectomy surgery after months of stomach discomfort.
Having missed too many tournaments last year, Jin Wei’s dreams of playing in the Tokyo Olympics went down in flames.
Now ranked No 84 in the world, Jin Wei is all fired to get her ranking and game up.
“There will be no Olympics for me this year, but that’s alright. I will use this time to focus on getting back on track.
“It will take some time but as I said earlier, I am no longer worried about my condition,” she added.
On whether making the Uber Cup squad was her next big target, Jin Wei replied: “I would love to contribute for my country but that decision lies with our head coach (Tey Seu Bock).
“I will play if he names me.”
The BA of Malaysia (BAM) have yet to plan out her tournaments this year, so she will continue to focus on her training.