KUALA LUMPUR: Former world junior champion Goh Jin Wei today produced one of her best career comebacks to stun India's P.V. Sindhu, and send Malaysia to the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup in Suzhou, China.
The 23-year-old Jin Wei, who had struggled with health issues in the last couple of years, showed sheer spirit as she clawed back from a game down to defeat the Indian former world champion 14-21, 21-10, 22-20, en route to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the second Group C tie.
Independent mixed doubles duo, Goh Soon Huat-Shevon Lai, and top men's singles, Lee Zii Jia, had earlier given Malaysia a steady 2-0 lead.
Soon Huat-Shevon, as expected, downed Dhruv Kapila-Ashwini Ponnappa 21-16, 21-17, before Zii Jia aced his match 21-16, 21-11 against former world No 1 K.Srikanth.
However, it was all Jin Wei after that.
Despite a prior 4-0 head to head record over the Malaysian, there was no shoo-in for Sindhu, who was somewhat out of sorts after winning the first game.
Malaysia, who had already thumped minnows Australia 5-0 on Sunday, will play Taiwan on Wednesday to determine who tops the group.
Taiwan, who defeated India 4-1 in their opening fixture, as expected, also scored a 5-0 over Australia today.
Only the top two teams will advance to the quarter-finals before a fresh draw is conducted.
For the record, Malaysia have only reached the semi-finals twice (2009 and 2021) since the tournament's inception in 1989.