KUALA LUMPUR – Women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei will be returning home early from the Paris Olympics after falling short in her bid to reach the last 16 today.
Jin Wei, a first-timer at the Games, succumbed in three games 21-17, 20-22, 23-21 to South Korea’s Kim Ga-eun in the second and final Group H match at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
With one win (against South Africa’s Johanita Scholtz) and one defeat, Jin Wei finishes second in the group. Only group winners, in this case world number 17 Ga-eun, will advance to the knockout round.
A devastated Jin Wei broke down in tears after coming agonisingly close to winning in the third and deciding game, holding two match points at 20-18.
Speaking to the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) and other local press in Paris, the two-time former world junior champion lamented, “I want to say sorry to all Malaysians.
“My opponent was under so much pressure, yet I failed to close out the match when I had the chance.
“I have no excuse for the defeat, a loss is a loss.”
Despite exiting the tournament early, the 24-year-old Jin Wei can hold her head up high.
The independent player soldiered on even without her regular coach, Nova Armada, by her side, as he did not receive accreditation for the Games.
For the record, no Malaysian women’s singles player has made it past the group stage of the Olympics since Datin Wong Mew Choo reached the quarter-finals of the 2008 Beijing Games.
It is also important to note that in 2008 the singles event was a single-elimination tournament. – July 31, 2024