KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 — For the first time in her career, professional women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei endured the sting of the opening round exit at the Malaysia Open, going down to Indian shuttler Malvika Bansod during 2025 edition here, today.
Jin Wei could not match Malvika’s performance from the outset and eventually went down 15-21, 16-21 in 45 minutes at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
The 24-year-old was then rushed to seek medical treatment immediately after the match due to a cramp in her stomach.
As soon as she returned to address the media in the mixed zone, the two-time former world junior champion admitted that a weak mindset was the reason for her loss today.
“I didn’t perform well during the match just now. I also experienced some cramping, but that’s normal for me, it just worsened after the match,” she said.
The two-time world junior champion, who made her Malaysia Open debut in 2017, had never previously exited in the first round while her best performance came in the 2018 edition, where she reached the quarterfinals before falling to Taiwan’s Tai Tzu Ying, 15-21, 15-21.
Elsewhere, national men’s doubles duo Yap Roy King-Wan Arif Wan Junaidi had a disappointing debut, bowing out to South Korea’s Kim Won Ho-Seo Sung Jae, 17-21, 11-21 in 45 minutes.
Wan Arif admitted their opponents’ consistency was a key factor in their defeat.
Meanwhile, matches on Court 2 were temporarily suspended due to water droplets leaking onto the court surface from the roof at the venue.
A Bernama check saw workers actively addressing the issue. The action is expected to resume involving men’s singles eight seeds Kodai Naraoka of Japan and Christo Popov from France at 4.50pm.
Yesterday, a similar incident delayed action on both Court 2 and Court 3, with the organisers resorting to covering the wet areas with cloth. This resulted in several matches being carried forward to today. — Bernama
