PETALING JAYA: Women’s singles shuttler Goh Jin Wei received a boost with the withdrawal of Canadian Michelle Li from the Taiwan Open next week.
Jin Wei was slated to face Michelle in the second round of the tournament.
“A bit sad that I won’t be going to Singapore and Taiwan Opens this year. It was an extremely tough choice but we needed to change the plan suddenly for several reasons,” world No. 13 Michelle posted in her social media pages.
Her withdrawal should pave the way for world No. 58 Jin Wei to achieve a good result in what will be her last tournament before the Birmingham Commonwealth Games from July 28-Aug 8.
Michelle is expected to feature in the Games and could pose a threat to Jin Wei’s medal hopes.
A good showing in Taiwan could give the Malaysian added confidence ahead of the Games.
Jin Wei will open her campaign against India’s world No. 97 Tanya Hemanth.
The other national women’s singles shuttlers in the fray are S. Kisona and Eoon Qi Xuan.
World No. 54 Kisona will play India’s unheralded Samiya Farooqui in the first round and a win will see her most likely take on Japan’s world No. 30 Aya Ohori next.
Qi Xuan will start from the qualifying round against another Indian shuttler Smit Toshniwal.
Poland’s Jordan Hart awaits the Malaysian in the first round if she wins.
Home star and world No. 2 Tai Tzu-ying is the hot favourite for the title.
Meanwhile, it will be an-Malaysian clash in the first round of the men’s singles after independent players Soong Joo Ven and Cheam June Wei were pitted against each other.
The winner of the match will likely face Japan’s world No. 46 Koki Watanabe.
The other national shuttlers such as Leong Jun Hao, Aidil Sholeh Ali Sadikin, Jacky Kok Jing Hong, Lim Chong King and Yeoh Seng Zoe will start from the qualifying rounds.
