SHAH ALAM: Negri Sembilan shuttler Goh Shu Xuan was once told he was not good enough for the national junior team.
The 19-year-old now hopes to use his participation in the Malaysia Games (Sukma) individual men’s badminton singles event to prove his detractors wrong.
“My results were not up to the mark when I was part of the national juniors,” said Shu Xuan after his first-round 21-13, 21-14 win against Brunei’s Dessen Chung at the Setia City Convention Centre yesterday.
He will next take on Chow Wern Soon of Perlis, who defeated Kelantan’s Wilson Tio Wei Sheng 21-18, 21-11.
Shu Xuan holds lofty ambitions of breaking into the top 100 within the next two years.
“I want to rise again and get myself back in the big leagues,” he said.
Shu Xuan is currently ranked 1051st in the world and says that not being selected for the senior national team truly put a halt to his shuttling ambitions.
“I mostly train privately now and it’s not as effective,” he said.
“It’s better when you’re surrounded by players who are of the same level or higher.
“That’s when you actually progress.”
In addition to the lack of intensive training, Shu Xuan admitted that it was the financial side of things that mainly impacted his drop in rankings.
“Without sponsors, competing internationally is almost impossible.”
Shu Xuan, however, is hoping to let his performances on the court do the talking as he hopes to be able to secure a medal in the current Games.
