Mum the force behind shuttler’s gold performance

Family support: (Second from right) Jin Wei with (from left) Loh, her father Boon Huat and elder sister Jin Mei after winning gold.

GEORGE TOWN: Like any other parent, shuttler Goh Jin Wei’s ­mother was worried when the SEA Games women’s singles champion was injured.

Loh Bee Sim, 45, said she was sad when her daughter suffered an ankle injury just weeks before the Games.

“I was worried that the injury would affect her performance.

“At one point, I even felt like telling her to give up but I realised that I should not stop her from pursuing her dream,” she said on Wednesday.

Instead, Loh gave Jin Wei plenty of moral support and took good care of her during her recovery.

“The national team has its medical facility, but if someone recommended good therapists or ­masseurs, I would still take her (to see them),” she said.

She added that she did not believe in giving last-minute advice to Jin Wei before each match so that the shuttler would not be unnecessarily stressed.

“No matter the outcome of her games the family is always by her side to support her,” she said.

Loh added that she accompanied Jin Wei to almost all her matches until she was 14.

The family has also moved from Penang to Kuala Lumpur to make things more convenient for Jin Wei.

“Although I have to travel back to Penang often to visit my parents, it is better for me to stay near my daughter,” she said.

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