KUALA LUMPUR – In the past few days, there has been confusion and controversy surrounding the suspension of former national badminton player Goh Jin Wei.
It was announced that Jin Wei would be banned from entering any international tournaments by the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) for a period of two years effective October 31, 2022.
The news was made public during a press conference by BAM deputy president Datuk Seri Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos who at the same time announced that her teammate, Lee Zii Jia, is banned for two years effective January 18, 2022, after choosing to retire from the national association.
An insider within BAM has revealed the chronological order of events that took place leading up to Jin Wei’s ban from international tournaments.
August 2, 2021 – BAM receives Goh Jin Wei’s resignation letter.
August 4-7 – Coach Indra Wijaya continued to persuade Jin Wei to stay. However, Jin Wei was still firm with her decision to resign.
August 7-8 – BAM coaching director Wong Choong Hann called Jin Wei and expressed BAM’s stance for her continuous services. Stated BAM’s commitment to support her until her full recovery again.
August 16 – Jin Wei has a Zoom meeting with Tan Sri Mohamad Norza Zakaria, Datuk Kenny Goh, and Wong Choong Hann.
Jin Wei explained her decision and medical reasons. Mohamad Norza had offered probable solutions of further medical advice and treatment, locally or abroad. Wong Choong Hann suggested the possibility of a tactical switch for Jin Wei to play mixed doubles if it would help her play with better performance.
Jin Wei insisted on retiring for good and was aware of the condition imposed on her that she would not be able to compete as a professional competitively. She also said the different medications she was on had taken a toll on her and could not play mixed doubles due to her health. She also said she has plans to further her studies, perhaps in China, and would resign after the Uber Cup.
August 20 – Jin Wei had asked Indra if she could play in both the Sudirman Cup and Uber Cup.
Indra supported the idea with the expectations that Jin Wei would train as she had not had training on court or any formal gym session since August 3.
August 23 – Jin Wei gets back to training but based on Indra’s observation, her commitment is not up to par. Jin Wei did not agree with the training intensity as it was not enough to be competitive and promised to work harder to be ready for the Sudirman Cup and Uber Cup.
August 27 – Mixed doubles coach Paulus Firman further discusses with Jin Wei on switching to play mixed doubles.
August 30 – Jin Wei agrees to give mixed doubles a try.
September 2 – BAM agrees to take Jin Wei for the Sudirman Cup and Uber Cup as her last ‘swan song’ in women’s singles, under the condition that she is physically up to mark and ready to compete.
September 3 – Jin Wei changes her mind and declines the offer again. Mohamad Norza and Kenny Goh were informed of Jin Wei’s final decision of quitting the sport altogether, again citing her health and the amount of medication she must take as the reason.
September 6-10 – Coach Indra was still in the opinion that Jin Wei was not ready for the Sudirman Cup and would be better prepared if she only focused on the Uber Cup.
Based on the reports by Wong Choong Hann and Indra, Jin Wei was not to be included in both teams.
In total, BAM spent six weeks of continuous effort to convince Jin Wei to continue her career with the national team.
December 23 – Together with Penang Badminton Association Secretary Mr Leong Kin Weng, Jin Wei came to meet Kenny Goh to discuss the possibility of her returning to BAM due to her health improvements. Jin Wei also revealed a few obstacles in the way of her return to BAM which involved personal sponsorship issues.
Kenny Goh advised her that she would need to go through the proper process. She was also informed of BAM’s stance on assisting her on those sponsorship matters.
Kenny Goh mentioned to Jin Wei that BAM could assist her as they have invested in her since the age of 13. However, no decision was made. The meeting was quite positive as Jin Wei considered seriously the possibility to rejoin the national team to play mixed doubles as her health would be the best fit for that category.
December 24 – Jin Wei gets in touch with Mohamad Norza to inform him of her desire to return to BAM.
December 29 – Jin Wei continues to be indecisive with her final decision on returning to BAM as she communicated with Kenny Goh through a series of WhatsApp messages that reflected her flip-flops.
However, BAM’s stance remained the same to assist in her undertakings and accept her into the national team.
January 2, 2022 – Jin Wei makes her announcement on her YouTube channel that she wants to play independently. – The Vibes, January 25, 2022
