Buenos Aires: Malaysia’s third-seeded Goh Jin Wei who pulled off an upset to beat No. 1 seed Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand 19-21, 21-15, 21-13 in the semi-final, put on a gutsy performance in the final on Friday, sinking No. 2 seed Wang Zhiyi to claim Malaysia’s first ever gold medal in singles event at the Youth Olympic Games (YOG).
Goh who won the 2015 world junior title, dropped the first set to Wang 16-21.
The Malaysian started second set with some unforced errors, fortunately she was able to regroup and level the match even by winning the second set 21-13 although she was still well below her best.
Wang got off to strong start in the decider, racing to 3-1, 4-2, before Goh took the lead 11-10 at the interval. The seesaw battle continued until Goh hit a right baseline shot to reach the match point with 20-18. Wang was able to close the gap at 19-20. Nevertheless, Goh remained calm to launch a cross court smash which forced Wang to lift the shuttlecock high and Goh scored the championship point by killing the shuttlecock on Wang’s right side.
“I thought I would lose the second game, but I cut down on my mistake,” Goh told the Badminton World Federation (BWF) after the match.
“This result will encourage me to keep working hard for the future.”
Meanwhile, China’s Li Shifeng enjoyed a more straight-forward victory in the men’s singles final when Li defeated Lakshya Sen of India 21-15, 21-19.
Cheam June Wei was the first Malaysian to ever win the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) gold medal when he partnered Hong Kong’s Ng Tsz Yau to win the mixed doubles crown four years ago in Nanjing.
