Singapore shuttler Yeo hoping for a good showing on homeground
Local shuttler Yeo Jia Min is hoping for a good showing with the home crowd behind her at this year's Singapore Badminton Open.
Although this is not her first tournament on home soil, the 20-year-old is excited to have her friends and family watching from the stands at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The former world junior No. 1 has expanded her repertoire since last year's tournament, where she was knocked out in the second round by China's Cai Yanyan. This year, she is hoping to achieve a personal best.
She joined Danish club AB Aarhus for three months till last Decemberand had a competitive stint at the Scottish Open and the Saarlorlux Open in Germany.
"When I'm overseas or at home, I'm always thinking about badminton and I've learnt to manage pressure from others, but also from myself," she said at a press conference yesterday.
"I've had more time with a new coach and a new training style, so I hope to progress more than I did last year."
Today, she will open her campaign against Indonesia's Ruselli Hartawan, who has beaten her twice in three encounters. They most recently battled at the Tong Yun Kai Cup last month, where Hartawan won 21-14, 21-18.
Meanwhile, Singapore men's singles player Loh Kean Yew lost 21-16, 21-17 to Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu in yesterday's qualifiers.
The 21-year-old learnt the hard way what it means by more haste, less speed. During the match, his coach was heard telling him not to rush his shots.
Said Loh: "I made mistakes easily so I kept losing each point, then I tried to focus on getting my shots in, so I felt rushed."
Lee, however, then lost to Thailand's Sitthikom Thammasin, who booked his spot in the main draw against sixth seed Kidambi Srikanth of India.
Another Singapore player, Jaslyn Hooi, caused an upset by defeating Canada's Brittney Tam 21-17, 24-22 in the qualifiers. Jaslyn, 18, meets China's Chen Xiaoxin in the first round today . - ADEENA NAGIB
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