Yeo Jia Min

Yeo Jia Min (Chinese: 杨佳敏; pinyin: Yáng Jiāmǐn; born 1 February 1999) is a Singaporean badminton player.[1]

Yeo Jia Min
Personal information
CountrySingapore
Born (1999-02-01) 1 February 1999
Singapore
Height1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight55 kg (121 lb)
HandednessRight
CoachKelvin Ho
Women's singles
Highest ranking16 (7 December 2021)
Current ranking18 (3 May 2022)
BWF profile

Early life

Yeo was born and raised in Singapore, obtaining citizenship sometime prior to the 2013 Asian Youth Games. Yeo's parents are Malaysians and both were Singapore permanent residents as of 2013.[2]

Yeo started playing badminton when she was seven years old after playing it recreationally with her parents. At nine, she competed in the 2008 Cheers Age Group Badminton Championships and won the Under-11 championship title. At age 10, she won the Under-11 singles title at an international level when she represented Singapore at the 2009 Li-Ning Youth International. In June 2012, with the intention of turning professional, she transferred out of Nanyang Girls' High School to enter the Singapore Sports School.[3]

Career

2012-2014: Junior and senior circuits tryout

In 2012, Yeo participated in three junior championships, namely the Badminton Asia Youth U17 & U15 Championships, the World Junior Mixed Team Championships and the World Junior Championships Eye-Level Cups. She played in both the singles and doubles disciplines, with her best showing at the Badminton Asia Youth Under-15 girl's singles championships where she reached the quarter-finals.[4] In 2013, at age 14, Yeo played in her first senior tournament at the Singapore Open where she lost in the women's singles qualifying round to her compatriot Liang Xiaoyu in two games, 17-21, 11-21.[5] In the women's doubles event, she partnered with Elaine Chua Yi Ling and lost in the first round to Korean pair, Chang Ye-na and Kim So-yeong, 20-22, 11-21.[6] In 2014, she competed in various senior and junior tournaments in multiple disciplines. Her best result came in the girl's singles event at the German Junior Open, where she lost in the semi-finals to then China's Qin Jinjing, 16-21, 18-21 in 33 mins.[7]

2015-2017: First senior title and World Junior #1

In 2015, Yeo once again reached the semi-finals of the girl's singles event at the German Junior Open, but she lost to Denmark's Mia Blichfeldt. In June, she participated in her first Southeast Asian Games and managed to win bronze in the women's team event. In August, she finished as runner-up to Indonesia's Gregoria Mariska Tunjung at the Singapore International Series whom she lost to with a scoreline of 20-22, 15-21.[8] In October, Yeo clinched two titles at the Badminton Asia U17 & U15 Junior Championships in Kudus, Indonesia. She defeated unseeded Indonesian Sri Fatmawati 21-15, 21-13 in the Under-17 girls' singles final. Then, she partnered compatriot Crystal Wong Jia Ying to beat Japan's Natsu Saito and Rumi Yoshida 21-18, 21-18 to clinch the U-17 girls' doubles title.[9]

In 2016, Yeo won the first senior title of her career when she defeated Ayumi Mine of Japan in the Vietnam Open Grand Prix in two straight games.[10] She followed up her success with another title, at the junior level, in the Junior Grand Prix held in Jakarta, Indonesia. There, she defeated Kim Ga-eun of Korea in two tightly contested games, 21-19, 21-19, to win the final in 35 mins.[11]

In 2017, Yeo continued her good form in the junior tournaments by winning the Dutch Junior Open held in March by beating Phittayaporn Chaiwan of Thailand in two games. The following week, she reached the final of the German Junior Open but lost to Hirari Mizui of Japan. In June, Yeo was ranked World Junior No.1 in the girls' singles event after she overtook Malaysia's Goh Jin Wei, making it the first time that a Singaporean badminton player, in either junior or senior categories, made it to the top of the BWF's ranking system.[12] In July, Yeo won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships after reaching the semi-finals stage. However, she was defeated by Phittayaporn Chaiwan this time, in a marathon three-set match that lasted for 63 mins. In August, she won her second women's team bronze at the Southeast Asian Games where Singapore reached the semi-finals of the women's team competition but lost to Thailand, the eventual winner, 3-0.[13]

2018-2021: Olympian

She competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games,[14] and at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[15]

2022

In 2022, Yeo withdrew from 2022 India Open before she could play her quarter-final match against Supanida Katethong, initially reported as having high fever.[16] It was subsequently determined to be a COVID-19 infection when she returned to Singapore.[17]

Awards

Yeo received the 2020 Meritorious Award from the Singapore National Olympic Committee.[18]

Achievements

Asian Junior Championships

Girls' singles

Year Venue Opponent Score Result
2017 Jaya Raya Sports Hall Training Center, Jakarta, Indonesia Pattarasuda Chaiwan 21–15, 17–21, 17–21 Bronze

BWF World Tour (2 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[19] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are 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.[20]

Women's singles

Year Tournament Level Opponent Score Result
2018 Vietnam Open Super 100 Han Yue 21–19, 21–19 Winner
2019 Hyderabad Open Super 100 An Se-young 12–21, 21–17, 21–19 Winner
2021 Hylo Open Super 500 Busanan Ongbamrungphan 10–21, 14–21 Runner-up

BWF Grand Prix (1 title)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2016 Vietnam Open Ayumi Mine 21–14, 21–17 Winner
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (2 runners-up)

Women's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2015 Singapore International Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 20–22, 15–21 Runner-up
2018 White Nights Joy Xuan Deng 7–21, 21–13, 17–21 Runner-up
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament

References

  1. "Players: Jia Min Yeo". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  2. "Future world-beaters". AsiaOne. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  3. "S'porean Yeo Jia Min, 23, who has been playing badminton for 16 years, says she's ok not playing badminton". Mothership.sg. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  4. "Badminton Asia Youth U17 & U15 Championships 2012". bwfbadminton.com. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
  5. "Li Ning Singapore Open 2013 - Match 103". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  6. "Li Ning Singapore Open 2013 - Match 324". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  7. "Yonex German Junior 2014". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  8. "OUE Singapore International Series 2015". bwf.tournamentsoftware.com. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  9. "Jia Min Yeo". Badminton Asia. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  10. "Badminton: 17-year-old Yeo Jia Min takes first title in Vietnam Open GP". The Straits Times. 25 July 2016.
  11. "Pembangunan Jaya Raya Yonex Sunrise Junior Grand Prix 2016 (Under 19)". badmintonstatistics.net. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  12. "Badminton: Singapore's Yeo Jia Min tops world junior ranking". Channel NewsAsia. 11 June 2017. Archived from the original on 11 June 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  13. "Yeo Jia Min". Singapore Sports Council. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  14. "Participants: Jia Min Yeo". Gold Coast 2018. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  15. Mohan, Matthew (7 June 2021). "Badminton: Singapore's Loh Kean Yew and Yeo Jia Min qualify for Tokyo Olympics". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 7 June 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  16. "Singapore badminton player Yeo Jia Min withdraws from India Open after 'high fever'". CNA.
  17. Auto, Hermes (17 January 2022). "Badminton: S'pore's Yeo Jia Min tests positive for virus, 3 others also pull out of India event | The Straits Times". The Straits Times.
  18. "Singapore Sports Awards". Singapore National Olympic Council. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  19. Alleyne, Gayle (19 March 2017). "BWF Launches New Events Structure". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
  20. Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018). "Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
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