Goh Liu YingAMNBCMOLY (Chinese: 吴柳萤; pinyin: Wú Liǔyíng; born 30 May 1989) is a Malaysian former badminton player. She had been consistently ranked among the top 10 mixed doubles player in the world with her partner, Chan Peng Soon. Together, they were ranked as high as world No. 3. They won the silver medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Early life
Goh was born on 30 May 1989 in Alor Gajah, Malacca to Goh Chak Whee and Yong Oi Lin. She has two younger brothers, Goh Qi Hao and Goh Qi Liang. Both of them studied at SMK Munshi Abdullah in 5SN1. She first started training in badminton at the age of 10.[2] She enrolled into the Bukit Jalil Sports School when she was 13 years old.[2]
Career
In 2009, Goh and Chan reached their first international tournament final at the Vietnam Open but were defeated by Flandy Limpele and Cheng Wen-hsing.[3] At the 2009 SEA Games, she won gold in women's team event and bronze in mixed doubles event.
Goh and Chan represented Malaysia at the 2012 Summer Olympics. They were the first ever Malaysian mixed doubles pair to qualify for the Olympic Games.[citation needed] They lost all three group matches and failed to progress to quarter-finals in their Olympics debut.[citation needed] In the same year, Goh and Chan won their first Super Series tournament at the Japan Open by beating Muhammad Rijal and Lilyana Natsir.[6] In November 2012, they reached the final of China Open but were defeated by top seed, Xu Chen and Ma Jin in straight sets. They were ranked 3rd in the world at their career high at the end of 2012.[citation needed]
In 2014, Goh decided to undergo knee surgery to fix her aggravating right knee.[7] While she was recovering, Goh enrolled into a modelling academy and did some modelling for the sports of badminton.[8] After a total of 11-month hiatus due to recovery, Goh resumed her partnership with Chan in 2015.[9]
Goh and Chan qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics. They won their first two group stage matches but lost the third to Indonesian pair, Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir. They finished as group runner-up and progressed to the quarter-finals round. In the quarter-finals, they beat Group B winner, Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Zięba of Poland. In the semi-finals, they beat China's Xu Chen and Ma Jin in straight games to reach the final.[16]
In the final, they had to settle for silver medal after they were beaten by Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir for the second time in the tournament.[17] Despite the fact that Goh and Chan lost in the final, they made history as the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to claim an Olympic medal.
In March 2017, Goh and Chan become the first Malaysian mixed doubles pair to reach the All England Open final since 1955. In the final, Goh and Chan were defeated by 5th seed Lu Kai and Huang Yaqiong in 3 sets after a few controversial fault calls by the umpire against them.[18] In April, Chan and Goh had to withdraw from the semi-final of India Open due to Goh's illness.[19] They later suffered a first round loss to Edi Subaktiar and Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the Malaysia Open.[20]
In May 2017, Goh announced that she had an aggravating injury in her right shoulder and thus, she went to Halle in Germany for surgery.[21] She spent weeks to undergo her rehabilitation in Halle before returning to Malaysia in early July when she released her autobiography entitled I am Goh Liu Ying.[22] In November 2017, Goh partnered with Chen Tang Jie to win the India International Series.[23]
In January 2018, Goh resumed her partnership with Chan and they won the Thailand Masters.[24] At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, she won the silver medal in mixed team event and the bronze medal in mixed doubles event.[25]
In July 2021, Goh with her partner Chan competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics,[29] but was eliminated in the group stage.[29][30]
On 6 December 2021, Goh partner Chan announced in his Instagram post that Chan-Goh have decided to split up after 13 years of playing badminton together. BWF World Tour Finals 2021 was the last games Chan-Goh played.[31]Ong Yew Sin later became Goh's new partner and the planned German Open will be their first tournament together.[32]
Retirement
In November 2022, Goh announced her plans to retire after competing at the 2023 Malaysia Open.[33] Teaming up again with Chan Peng Soon, they lost 21-18, 15-21, 7-21 to the Indonesian pair of Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati in the first round on 10 January 2023. Badminton Association of Malaysia organized a retirement ceremony for Goh at the Axiata Arena on 14 January 2023. An exhibition match featuring Goh, Tan Boon Heong, Koo Kean Keat, Chan Peng Soon, Cheah Liek Hou and Beiwen Zhang was held during the ceremony.[34] Following her retirement, Goh founded a badminton academy; GLY Academy in Melaka and runs a sports agency; Wellsport as well as a gown rental shop - Tuilerie - in Kuala Lumpur.[35] In July 2023, she opened a badminton hall - GLY Badminton Hall - in Krubong, Melaka with hopes to bring more resources in the sport to her birthplace.[36]
Personal life
On 18 April 2023, Goh hinted that she is married to a low-profile businessman, whom she started dating when she was still competing, through a series of postings on her Facebook and Instagram profiles. [37] Goh gave birth to her first child on 31 August 2023, which coincides with Malaysia's 66th national day. [38]
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[39] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[40]
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[41] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011.[42] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
