Lai Jiemin welcomes the 2025 Malaysia Badminton Super 500 Tournament with short hair, "in order to cut off bad luck"

Malaysia's mixed doubles player Lai Kit Min cut off her long hair that has been around for more than 10 years and ushered in the 2025 Malaysia Badminton Super 500 tournament this week with short hair.

Lai said that she and her partner Goh Xun Valve's victory at last year's Malaysia Masters was a source of inspiration to other Malaysian players

While Lai is just joking, he and her husband Goh Xun have certainly seen their run off in the last eight of four consecutive tournaments, with their last semi-final coming at the Indian Super 750 in January and last year at the Malaysia Masters.

Therefore, as the mixed doubles libero, the "valve Min pair" Wu Xun Valve and Lai Jiemin are looking forward to defending their title at this year's Malaysia Badminton Super 500 (Malaysia Masters).

Speaking about playing as the defending champion, Lai said: "It's always exciting to play at home, whether it's the Malaysia Masters or the Malaysia Open. But at the same time, there was a little bit of fear because it was in front of the local fans and of course we didn't want to disappoint them. This pressure of 'gotta behave' is there. ”

"But this time we have a good mentality. We want to be able to enjoy the game, give it our all and give the crowd a good game. Winning or losing is secondary, and of course we still want to do well. It's too competitive right now, and it's not easy to maintain the rankings. ”

Lai Kit Min (back) said that playing as the defending champions at the Malaysia Masters with her husband Goh Xun Valve has given them a lot of motivation, but they also need to adjust their mentality.

She also said that it will be a challenge to defend her title this year, "Although we were champions last year, this year's competition will be more difficult. Looking at the draw, almost all of the top combinations are coming, and the intensity is obviously much higher than last year, almost the 'top 10 set' in the world, so we really have to be well prepared. "But we're still very motivated and we're going to give it our all and try to defend our title as best we can." But at this stage, we don't think too far ahead, and if we set our goals too high too early, it is easy to generate unnecessary pressure and tension in the game. ”