'I can only eat one meal a day' — Jin Wei reveals sacrifices made to play badminton again

Goh Jin Wei is grateful to be able to play badminton once again, despite having to make complete lifestyle change including having only one meal a day in order to pursue her career.

“I am grateful to be still able to play badminton. I can see my gap compared to the top players is good, but I need to work harder and be more consistent.

“My biggest challenge is having enough energy to sustain throughout a match. My dosage is high depending on the medication, and there are side effects too. Sometimes I wake up three to four times at night because of the pain.

“I can only eat one meal a day, which is in the late evenings. If I eat before that, there is pain. I get acid reflux and end up throwing up everything. So if my match is in the afternoon, I’m playing on an empty stomach, except for water and some protein fluids,” Goh told Stadium Astro.

Goh’s predicament came after she underwent a colectomy surgery in 2019, a procedure that resulted in her quitting the sport altogether last year.

The 22-year-old, however, had a change of heart and returned as a professional this year.

Since then, the Penangite enjoyed a good run including a semi-finals berth at the Italian International in June before she secured a runner-up finish at the Vietnam Open last Sunday.

That result saw her overtake S. Kisona as the highest ranked women’s singles in the country at 44th.

Getting to this stage required plenty of sacrifice, which Goh already came to terms with.

“It’s something that I have to deal with, especially if I want to continue playing.”

Goh did not have any rest since the Vietnam Open, having travelled right away to play for Ampang Jaya Badminton Club (AJBC) in the Malaysia Purple League the following day after her final in Ho Chi Minh.

Still, she delivered her second win in the competition to help AJBC to a 13-6 victory over Singapore Badminton Team.

Goh levelled the scores for AJBC with a 9-11, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4, 11-2 victory over Megan Lee.

Moh Reza-Sabar Karyaman, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai and Chinese Taipei star Chou Tien-chen later went on to win their respective matches to ensure AJBC a semi-finals berth in Genting this weekend.