Goh Jin Wei created history this morning by winning Malaysia’s first Youth Olympic Games gold medal, much to the delight of Olympic Council of Malaysia and Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Datuk Seri Mohamad Norza Zakaria
Two years after an ankle injury denied her an appearance at the Rio Olympics, the 18-year-old made up for it by beating China’s Wang Zhiyi 16-21, 21-13, 21-19 in the women’s singles final in Buenos Aries, Argentina.
Norza said: “History was made this morning. BAM is very happy with the sterling performance of Jin Wei who delivered Malaysia’s first Olympic Youth gold medal.
“Her win and that of 20-year-old Lee Zii Jia at last week’s Chinese Taipei Open shows BAM’s efforts in investing in young players is beginning to bear fruit.
“Jin Wei has huge potential and we have always been confident in her ability.
“OCM had set a one-gold medal target and I am glad we have achieved it. There could be more good news as the hockey team is also in the semifinals.”
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For the record, Goh is not the first Malaysian to win a gold medal at the Youth Olympics as Cheam June Wei partnered Hong Kong’s Ng Tsz Yau to the mixed doubles title four years ago.
They defeated Japan’s Kanta Tsuneyama and Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hsin 21–14, 23–21 but the medal was not counted towards Malaysia’s tally as they competed under the mixed-National Olympic Committee’s flag.
It was a remarkable achievement for Goh, whose first coach Teh Peng Huat, also helped make Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Cheam the champions they are.
“I thought I would lose the second game but I cut down on my mistakes,” she told BWF after the match.
“This result will encourage me to keep working hard for the future.”
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Her next big target is the World Junior Championships in Toronto next month.
It has been a good few years for Goh, who won the 2015 World Junior title in Peru, became the youngest national champion in 2016 and won the SEA Games gold medal last year.
Her gold this morning capped a memorable few days for Malaysia at the Games as Rayna Hoh Khai Ling helped her mixed team win the silver in the multidiscipline event.
