Singapore badminton player Yeo Jia Min has topped the Badminton World Federation (BWF) junior rankings.

The 18-year-old native Singaporean overtook Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in the latest rankings released Thursday (8 June) to reach number one for the first time in her young career – the first time a Singaporean has accomplished such a feat.

“I feel thankful and encouraged at the same time, to continue training hard and striving to improve myself,” she told Yahoo Singapore.

Last year, Yeo beat three top-100 players en route to claiming her first professional title at the Yonex Sunrise Vietnam Grand Prix. Yeo was crowned Asian Under-15 and Under-17 girls’ champion in 2013 and 2015 respectively. She also clinched the doubles title with Crystal Wong at the Under-17 event.

View photos A screenshot of the Badminton World Federation junior rankings. (Source: bwfbadminton.com) More

Yeo also took a year off studies last year to train full-time, a decision that was made with her parents’ backing.

She will be competing in the Crown Group Australian Open and the Yonex Open Taiwan later this month, before heading to the Asia Junior Championships on 22 July. She will also compete in the SEA Games this August in Kuala Lumpur.

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